Long Way 'Round
by the ramblin rose
Summary: This is a Dixonne fic, but there's whole group involvement. It's the sequel to What Future Is There? Together Daryl and Michonne, along with the rag tag family they've built out of some of the most unlikely people, are trying to build a future for themselves and for those that they love, no matter what the odds are. (I'm terrible at summaries, sorry.)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: So this is the sequel to What Future Is There? You're going to need to have read that one to understand most of what's happening in this story. Otherwise you're going to be lost and you're not going to know many of the characters that are present and the situations alluded to. **

**There's a long author's note at the end of the chapter that I urge you to read if you're not sure if you want to read this story or you want to know what to expect. **

**It will be a Dixonne story primarily, but whole group involvement will be strongly present in the story and many other characters will be important. **

**If it needs to be said, I don't the Walking Dead or any of its characters. All I own are the original characters and the plot lines original to the story. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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The motel hadn't been that difficult to clear out. They'd certainly had more difficult locations to secure.

This one had drawn their attention, though, because it offered a nice gated in area…something they had to look for regularly, otherwise at least three people needed to be up and on their toes at all times during the night to make sure that the Walkers didn't smell and kill their livestock.

They were all moving at crawling paces tonight, even more so than the past few nights, and Michonne knew that they had to rest some tonight or else people were going to start getting sick just from the strain.

Even she could feel it. She was dragging her feet more than usual and she'd almost tripped over her own feet more than once in the past few hours while they were trying to find a place to stop that wasn't too far off their chosen roadway and close to the water.

When they got the place cleared of Walkers, which surprisingly they'd only found three in the whole of the thing and they looked to have all been employees of the motel at some point, Carol collected all the children out of the wagon and began to herd them inside to get them out from under foot while everyone else went about their assigned duties of unhitching the animals, going for water for everyone, and unloading what they'd need for the night.

Michonne heaved up as many of the bags as she could carry in one trip, reminding herself of when she used to buy groceries and refuse to make two trips no matter how much she had to carry, and followed Carol into the little room that was something like a lobby where she was trying to keep the kids occupied and out the way.

Every one of the children was whiny, clingy, and demanding. In short, they were almost as bad as the adults.

Michonne dropped the bags on the floor in front of where Carol was standing, looking as exhausted as Michonne felt, with the children asking her questions that she wasn't even bothering to answer about food.

"We've cleaned out enough rooms," Michonne offered, "so that everyone…everyone that wants one…can have their own for the night."

Michonne could hear the exhaustion in her own voice.

Carol nodded at her.

"I'll send Ty to bed with Isaac," she said. "I've got to wash clothes…"

Michonne shook her head at her.

"No, you've got to sleep," Michonne said. "We all do…"

"Michonne, we're almost out of diapers…the kids clothes are all dirty. We can deal with it, but they can't. If we're moving on in the morning I've got to wash them tonight," Carol said.

Michonne sighed and chewed her lip, working on getting up the energy to go back and help with whatever else anyone needed, while they all dragged about doing what needed to be done, and thought about the situation.

Carol was right. The children were exhausted and they were dirty. They were all dirty and exhausted. Michonne hadn't bothered to keep track of how long they'd been on the road, but she knew it had been a while…that was evidenced by Isaac growing if nothing else. And they'd been keeping a pretty steady and strenuous speed. They'd gone just as fast and as long each day as the animals could handle, paying attention to them far more than they were paying attention to themselves or the other humans.

And they were going to have to rest…really rest…if they were going to keep going.

"I'm going to talk to Daryl," Michonne said. "We'll stay at least two nights here…tomorrow I'll help with the clothes. We all will."

Carol nodded at her.

"I'll start getting something ready to eat," Carol said. "Do you think it's safe enough for a fire here?"

Michonne stuck her head out the door of the motel building and looked around. The place seemed to be secure and even with all their moving about they hadn't attracted any Walkers into the courtyard space…she imagined that they'd probably struck gold as far as temporary camps went.

"I think a fire's fine," Michonne said. "We could use a hot meal…just keep it low…dig it out if you can."

Carol nodded at her again and started then to go through some of the supplies that Michonne had brought in, a few more bags and boxes having appeared close by thanks to the actions of someone who had passed through quietly, probably lacking the energy or the care to speak.

Michonne stepped out into the slowly fading light and found Daryl near the wagons checking a wheel from what she could tell.

He looked like he was dragging just as much as the rest of them and she wasn't surprised. He was the one doing most of the driving of the group, and from time to time that meant he had some griping and complaining tossed in his direction, but she knew that he was driving them on like he was because he wanted the best for them all…and he thought the best was going to be covering as much ground as possible in the shortest amount of time.

"Daryl…Daryl…I need to talk to you a second," Michonne said.

He straightened up from what he was doing and turned to her, furrowing his brows.

"You OK?" He asked.

Michonne nodded her head. She knew that her face might make her, like everyone else, appear much more sullen and serious than she actually was.

"I'm fine, Daryl," Michonne said. It was true at least as far as he was asking. "We've got to stay here a few nights…at least two, but three would be better."

He looked like he might protest and she cut him off quickly.

"Daryl, everyone is so tired they're going to drop. We need to sleep…we need to eat hot meals. We need baths and clean clothes and the animals need to rest. This place looks pretty good, the best we've seen in days. The kids need to be out of the wagon…Daryl, we've got to stop and rest for a couple of days or we're going to be too tired to defend ourselves. A herd of ten good Walkers could take three of us out right now just from exhaustion, starvation, and dehydration," Michonne said making sure that there was enough urgency in her voice to keep him from ignoring her words.

The road was hard and they were really doing well. They'd lost no one so far and they were working together even better than they had in the community, but people were just worn down. Michonne could feel exhaustion in every muscle of her body and she knew that if she could, then everyone else could feel it too.

And they were following Daryl. Whether or not he wanted to be a leader and whether or not he considered himself to be a leader, he was who everyone was looking to. If he said get up and go after five hours of rest, they got up and they trudged on. They were all accustomed, at times, to going forty eight hours or better without sleep because they'd gotten night watch.

They were giving it all they had, but eventually everyone was simply just going to run out.

Daryl looked a little conflicted as he glanced around at the comings and goings of his companions, everyone moving with even less enthusiasm than Walkers in the winter.

Michonne could see, though, that he knew she was right and he was on the verge of agreeing with her, just as soon as he sorted through whatever he was thinking.

"Yeah," he said finally. He nodded his head and Michonne heard that in his voice there was the dragging drawl of exhaustion that was evident whenever anyone else spoke as well. "You right…we'll stop for a couple nights…three or four if we're safe and they ain't no trouble. I'll tell everyone tonight that tomorrow they get as much rest as they can…motel oughta be good for that."

Michonne sighed in relief that he'd given into the idea so easily.

"Real beds," she said. "First time in…"

She stopped talking because honestly she didn't know how long it had been since she'd slept in a bed and she knew that Daryl didn't either. They'd stopped in a few farmhouses and there had been beds there, but they'd piled all the kids in them to sleep like sardines since often the poor things slept more or less on top of their parents on the floor or either on pallets that they made out of whatever they could spare.

Daryl still looked conflicted, though, and Michonne was a little concerned.

"Something wrong?" She asked, her voice croaking out of her body at the moment.

Daryl looked at her and shook his head.

"No…ain't nothin' wrong, 'Chonne," he said.

She wasn't convinced. She knew, though, that sometimes with Daryl, especially if he was working on something that was particularly "big" in his mind, required a little time to think it over before he was ready to present it to her so that they could discuss it and decide if they needed to bring whatever it was up to the whole group.

"Something to talk about later?" She asked.

Daryl looked at her a moment and then he finally nodded his head without much conviction behind it.

"Yeah…maybe," he said. "Let's just get everythin' done…I'm beat," he responded.

Michonne laughed low in her throat.

"Sounds like a plan," she said. "I'm already asleep in my head."

He offered her something of the same kind of laugh that she'd given him and he reached a hand out, patting her on the arm, a gesture she was sure was all he had to offer at the moment since anything more familiar might result in both of them getting stuck that way and falling asleep leaning against one another.

Whatever he had to discuss with her would keep until after they'd had some rest. It would be easier then, at any rate, to make heads or tails of anything that required more thought that the mechanical repetition of setting up camp, something that had become such a second nature to all of them that they could literally do it while sleep walking.

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**AN: So I couldn't stay away. I am starting on this story now. I am sure that it's going to be quite long, since that's my style overall. **

**I wanted to say for those of you who will be joining me here that what I have planned here is a little bit different than What Future Is There? In that I will be allowing for more POVs here. **

**I plan for this story to be a good deal about character development and such. I'm not going to try to rush it. I'm literally writing it for my own enjoyment and for simply enjoying playing with the world that I'm building and the characters. **

**As a result, if there's a particular character/couple/etc. that you're particularly interested in or a dynamic between characters that you're particularly interested in (or something you'd like to see), then don't be afraid to let me know. I may not be able to incorporate everything you'd like to see for one reason or another, but if it's something that I feel I can work with, I will try to put in a little "extra" for you here and there. **

**That being said, it's not going to be a fast paced, super exciting fic at all times. There will be a lot of the somewhat "laid back" style that we saw in different places in WFIT. If you're not interested in that, you might not enjoy this. I just wanted to let you know ahead of time. **

**If you are interested, though, then I'd like to welcome you aboard and thank you for deciding to take this trip with me! I'm excited about it and I hope you are too! **

**I will update when I can, but I don't imagine that the updates will be constant. **

**As always, I don't get paid for this with anything beyond your reviews and such, so I always appreciate your feedback! Welcome and let me know what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I'm glad some of you are excited about this! It's going to be a bit of a slow start, but we'll get there! **

**Here's another little chapter! I hope you enjoy! **

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When Michonne woke up the next morning, the first to be awoken by Zeb moving about and starting to fuss, she got out of the bed as quickly as she could, pulling him after her because she didn't want his please "Mama up" to get everyone up.

She sat on the other bed, the one that had gone unoccupied all night while the four of them piled into one bed, and fed him while she dozed a little in her sitting position and watched Daryl and Hope still sleeping.

Hope had learned to sleep through anything…absolutely anything. Michonne was pretty sure that atomic bombs couldn't wake the girl, especially if she wasn't sleeping alone.

That was one thing about their lifestyle, it taught all of them to find security in others and the closeness of others. Since they'd left the community none of them had done anything alone.

And on the one hand it was sometimes a little annoying and it sometimes left Michonne craving a little solitude and the chance to get her head together without someone else breathing down her neck, but in the very same flash of thought where she might have told someone to "go away" or to leave her alone, she was grateful for their presence and would have been miserable if they'd actually done what she thought about requesting.

Daryl was sleeping on his back, the light snore of the last stage of his sleep echoing out…not the heavy snore of the night before that she'd heard distant in her ears, not the one that marked pure exhaustion…rather this was the one that signaled that it wouldn't be long before he woke naturally and expected to get on with the day.

Hope was curled into him, her head using his arm like a pillow, and both of them had long since gotten rid of the blankets to reveal their bodies to anyone who was looking.

Michonne smiled a little watching Hope twitch in her sleep, caught up in some dream that her brother hadn't been able to rouse her from.

When Zeb had eaten enough to hold him over until his official breakfast, Michonne got up put him in the middle of the bed, pointing a finger at him.

"You stay…right there…don't you move," she declared.

He smiled at her.

It wasn't the effect that she was going for, since it might mean that he thought she was playing, but she doubted that he would crawl right off the edge and onto the floor.

She stripped out of what she still had on, having lost most of her clothes before bed, and then rummaged around, naked, through the bags that they'd brought up to put on literally anything that she could find that was clean.

Carol hadn't exaggerated. They were out of clean clothes. Most of them had been wearing the clothes they had on so long that they were beginning to feel like they were growing to them and everyone had begun to ignore entirely the stench of others and their own stench that, at times, even drowned out the smells around them.

Once or twice before they'd stopped to bathe and wash off the sweat, Walker muck, and road dirt that they were wearing, they'd discovered that they had to keep an extra leash on Sadie because the smell had gotten bad enough that it had confused her senses into thinking that they were constantly being approached by Walkers…her confusion had served for them as the ultimate evidence that they had to stop to bathe, whether they wanted to sacrifice the time or not.

Once Michonne was dressed, she dressed and changed Zeb, making note that she had only two more diapers for him…and that meant none for Hope, who really only needed them at night.

She picked him up once he was changed and left the motel room, closing the door behind her.

The night before was a bit of a fog. They'd left Beau and Carl, voluntarily, on watch and everyone else had gone to sleep. Michonne didn't remember, though which rooms were occupied by who, so she didn't dare to go knocking on doors in search of someone that she wanted.

She eased down the walkway of the motel and down the steps, hitting the bottom floor and she heard Isaac and followed the sound until she found Carol, wearing the baby like a joey, going through boxes and bags.

"Breakfast?" Michonne asked.

Carol jumped and Michonne held her hand up as a type of apology for startling her.

"Yeah…I thought I should start getting something ready," Carol said. "Did you talk to Daryl? Are we staying tonight too?"

Michonne smiled and nodded her head.

"At least tonight too, he said," Michonne responded. "Maybe tomorrow night too if there aren't any problems. That should give us some time to boil and restock the water on the wagons and everyone's canteens…and it should give us enough time to wash clothes."

Carol chuckled and shook her head.

"You're being optimistic about time," Carol said.

Michonne put Zeb down for a few moments on the floor of what had once been the motel office…the place right now they were using to simply hold the supplies they'd be using, and started helping Carol sort through things to get breakfast ready.

"I'm not, really," Michonne said. "I'm being enthusiastic that Daryl's going to see fit to give us as much time as we need. We need this…we need a chance to just…regroup."

"I wouldn't mind a bath," Carol said. "Even if the water's cold as ice in those creeks…I'd still go in."

Michonne laughed.

They'd taken more than one bath in water so cold that their teeth chattered the whole time they tried to wash in record speed. It was invigorating, or at least that's what they told themselves.

"Everyone's going to get a bath," Michonne said. "And sleep and food and clean clothes…and all the water you can drink for a few days."

"It'll be good for the animals too," Carol said. "Beau and Carl took them out grazing a little earlier. Isaac and I've been up for a while. Ty's out right now, getting wood."

"Alone?" Michonne asked.

"We were the only ones up," Carol said. "And he said he didn't want me taking Isaac out there if I didn't have to…so yeah…alone. He's just going to get whatever he can carry off the ground, he's not cutting anything."

Michonne sighed and shook her head.

"You should have woken someone…" She said.

Carol didn't respond to what she'd said, and Michonne didn't expect her to. Once everything was collected together, Carol heaved up the box and carried it out of the door to where she'd dug small fire pits the night before.

Michonne got Zeb and followed after Carol, watching Isaac as he slept snuggled against his mother's back, unaware that today was different than any other that he spent tied to her body.

As soon as they got outside, Michonne saw Tyreese coming with his arms loaded down with branches and bits of scrub, whatever he'd been able to quickly and easily collect. She left him to help Carol and she took Zeb with her back up to the room where she'd left Daryl and Hope, deciding she might as well rouse them.

They were already awake, though, when she got in the room, Hope sitting sleepily on the edge of the bed, scrubbing at her eyes, while Daryl was scrubbing at her feet with a baby wipe.

"Don't worry about it," Michonne said as soon as she saw his activity. "We're going to be here a couple of days…we'll get her a good bath."

"She'll catch her death a' cold in that water, 'Chonne," Daryl said, still scrubbing.

"We'll warm water up for the kids," Michonne responded. "We can tough it out in the cold and we'll plug up a couple of bathtubs or something and let them have some hot baths…if we stay long enough we can plug up tubs and let everyone have a real bath for once."

"Mama, hold me…" Hope whined, stretching her arms toward Michonne.

Hope wasn't awake yet and when she wasn't fully awake she bordered, very often, on the edge of irritable.

Michonne shook her head.

"Not right now…you've gotta wake up. Jude's up somewhere because her Mommy and Daddy are downstairs…she might be with Beau…" Michonne said.

Hope perked up a little at the mention of the man who, after spending all night on night watch, might have Judith…but he also might be trying very hard to sleep with eyes open if he hadn't been dismissed to bed yet. Still, his name was enough to perk Hope up for the moment and make her cooperate more with Daryl who was trying now to wrestle the only remotely clean clothes on her that they had.

"So we're going to stay a couple of days?" Michonne asked after a second.

"Yeah, 'Chonne…we gonna stay a few days," Daryl said.

He fell quiet for a moment and Michonne shifted Zeb around on her lap, boucing him to make him laugh and squeal at her.

"I been thinkin'," Daryl started suddenly, "everyone's lookin' at me…an' they keep sayin' that we gonna know where ta stop 'cause I'm gonna tell 'em when we got where we goin'…"

He broke off speaking for a moment.

Michonne waited him out. She could tell immediately, based entirely on his tone of voice and the evidence on his face that he was thinking hard about this, that this was what was bothering him the night before.

"How am I s'posed to know, 'Chonne?" He asked suddenly. "How'm I gonna know that we found the place we're lookin' for?"

Michonne sat quietly for a moment.

They were all looking at him like he was going to be some kind of Wise Man…like they were following a star but he was the only one that could see it and he'd let them know when they reached their destination…this mythical destination that none of them had any ability to really imagine.

It wasn't fair to put that on him…yet they all did it, even Michonne couldn't pretend that she was innocent of expecting him to handle everything and to tell them what they needed to know.

Michonne sucked in a breath.

"Daryl…you're going to know, but we'll all keep looking," Michonne said. "We know…more or less…what we're looking for. We know what we have to have to make it work…water, at least temporary shelter of some sort…enough land for farming and for grazing animals…"

"And we've done decided mountains for protection," Daryl said. "Or…for some protection…"

"Well we're in the mountains," Michonne said.

Daryl looked at her and then he nodded his head, a little more deliberately than before.

"That's why I'm talkin' to you now, 'Chonne," Daryl said. "I feel like we're close…I feel like we're real close."

Michonne waited a moment before responding.

"So what are you saying, Daryl?" Michonne asked.

It was clear he'd already worked out a good deal of this in his head. He was bringing it up to her now, but this wasn't the first time that it had crossed his mind.

"This place here is nice," Daryl said. He shook his head. "But it ain't the kinda place that's gonna be our home…"

Michonne shook her head in response.

"I hope not, Daryl," she said. "It's nice, and it's safe…or it seems safe…but this isn't a home."

"But I was thinkin'," Daryl said, "everyone needs a chance to rest…everyone needs a chance to get their feet back under 'em…why don't we rest here just a while…and I'll go out…take some people with me that's willin' to go…and we'll see what we can't find, 'Chonne? We'll go out and see if we can't find our home…an' if it's close enough to this place we can get here without travelin' too long, then maybe we keep this place as something temporary while we buildin' it up?"

Michonne chewed over what he'd said and considered it carefully. It really wasn't a bad idea. It wasn't a bad idea at all and it was the first sign that they were getting closer to something concrete that they'd had since they left their old community.

It was the first sign that they were actually going to find this home instead of simply continuing to wander until they died or gave up or whatever would be the way that the journey without end finally ended.

"What'cha think, 'Chonne?" Daryl asked. "Am I crazy for wantin' to go out with this place as a…as a startin' point?"

Michonne shook her head at him.

"No, Daryl, you're not crazy," she said. She smiled at him. "You might be the smartest man I know…because that's the best idea I've heard this morning…and I've got a good idea that everyone's going to think it's the best news they've heard in a long time when you tell them what we're doing over breakfast."

Daryl smiled, blushing just a little, and then he got to his feet, catching Hope's hand in his while she danced around in front of the television. She stopped her pirouetting when he tapped her arm and offered him her hand and he tugged her toward the door.

"Let's head on down then," Daryl said to Michonne. "We got shit to do."

Michonne laughed to herself and picked Zeb up, following behind him without another word.

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**I thought I'd put a character list here for anyone who might need a refresher or who might have forgotten who we're dealing with in the story. It's very "brief" and gives some of the highlights. If I've forgotten anyone (highly possible), please let me know. They are in no particular order. I added the children in with their parents. **

**Daryl – Canon character. Married to Michonne since the prison (post season 3). He's the unofficial "leader" of the group.**

**Michonne – Canon character. Married to Daryl. Together they have one daughter, Hope (their oldest), and one son, Zeb(ulon). She's, obviously, involved in almost everything that Daryl does and helps him "lead". **

**Carol – Canon character. "Married" to Tyreese. Together they have one son, Isaac. They also raise Judith and consider her their daughter. She's more or less the head of all things "domestic". **

**Tyreese – Canon character. "Married" to Carol. He's Daryl's best friend and often the one responsible for heading up construction projects.**

**Rick – Canon character. He's in a relationship with Sadie. He no longer attempts to take leadership positions, but he's working on getting involved again with the group after a short "break" following something of a mental breakdown.**

**Carl – Canon character. He's Rick's son and working on becoming a more active character. He has a crush on Emma and he is something of a "buddy" to Beau.**

**Glenn – Canon character. He's married to Maggie and tends to be the "run coordinator" of the group and is good with directions and finding anything they need.**

**Maggie – Canon character. She's married to Glenn and suffered a difficult time after the loss of the rest of her family. She and Glenn are adoptive parents to two girls, Haralee (the oldest) and "Lela". **

**Beau – OC. He joined the group when they found him living alone in the woods. He's in a relationship with Libby. **

**Libby – OC. She joined the group when Daryl found her alone with her sister and two nephews. She's in a relationship with Beau and together they raise her two nephews, Jacob (oldest) and Sam. Her sister, Emma, is also still in their care. **

**Sadie – OC. She's Deaf. She joined the group after an accident during an encounter with Daryl. She's in a relationship with Rick. She has an adoptive son, Paul, who she believes to be the child of her brother.**

**Mark – OC. He came in with Sadie. They've travelled together through several different groups. He was a volunteer EMT and offers some medical assistance to the group. **

**Lisette – OC. She recently joined the group and is becoming something of "best friend" to Carol and Michonne. **

**Calista – OC. She's the daughter of Lisette and in a relationship with Jimmy. **

**Jimmy and Junior – OCs. Michonne jokingly refers to the boys as "the twins". They came in together and have travelled together since the beginning of the outbreak. **

**Rachel – OC. She's been with the group since the prison. She was in a relationship with Rick, but they parted on friendly terms. **


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Short little chapter here to keep moving on.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Michonne knew they weren't likely to finish everything they were attempting to do within the day, and after Daryl's announcement over breakfast that they were going to stay there for a while and he was going to take a group out to look in the surrounding areas for a possible place to stay for good, she knew that it didn't matter if they finished in a day or not.

Whether it was the announcement, a good night's sleep after such a difficult run of things, the two hot meals, or simply the prospect of the journey drawing to a definitive close, Michonne wasn't sure, but everyone seemed to be in different spirits as they went around, still dragging a little and obviously tired, getting to work on taking care of necessities that hadn't been properly met in some time.

Daryl was off with Tyreese somewhere in the motel complex and Michonne didn't know what they were doing, but she knew that whatever they were doing was something that they figured needed to be done, and it was something to occupy their hands while Daryl consulted Tyreese about the group that they might take out and about exactly how they wanted to go about the next step.

The children, obviously thrilled with their freedom from being unpacked and returned to the wagons over and over again, were running around the yard of the motel, staying happily within the boundaries that had been set for them, the space impressive to them after their recent cramped quarters.

And Michonne, at this point, was settled down with Lisette and scrubbing at clothes on the two aluminum washboards they'd brought with them the whole way out of concern that they wouldn't stumble upon the antique relics that were now valuable things to have and meant the difference between washing where you could be comfortable and doing the wash in icy water open to the possibility of Walker attacks.

"Who do you think they'll take?" Lisette asked.

Michonne hummed while she considered the question, wringing out the garment she'd just finished with and tossing it toward the basket that Carol would come and get shortly to hang out on the lines she was stringing up in the sun.

"I know who they won't take right off the top of my head," Michonne said. "Knowing Daryl? They'll take a small group at first. He and Tyreese…Glenn…I would think maybe Sadie."

"Why do you say that?" Lisette asked.

"She's good with Walkers and she's the only one of us able to give a warning that they're coming or that they're around," Michonne said. "It's worth it to them to keep her safe from any people they might encounter to get a good solid warning that they're about to walk into a herd."

Lisette hummed her agreement and went back to washing. It wasn't long, before Maggie came toward them carrying two of the buckets of water that they'd found while scouring supply closets.

"Are y'all washing diapers and baby clothes?" Maggie asked. "I meant to stop by on my way down…but Rachel's heating water to wash all the kids really well and that's what we need."

Michonne held up a handful of the dripping children's clothes.

"And that's what we're washing. All of us can make do if we have to," Michonne responded.

Maggie smiled and nodded.

"OK then," she said, taking up the buckets she'd rested beside her. "I'm going to help get them clean…I think Calista's bringing you two more clean water soon."

Michonne nodded her head in response and Maggie scuttled off with the buckets.

"Is it wrong," Lisette asked again after a moment, "that I almost feel like I'm getting too excited about this? I feel like telling myself not to get my hopes up, but I want to get them up."

Michonne shook her head.

"I don't think it's wrong at all…I might have, once upon a time, but now I'm pretty excited too," she admitted. "Don't think I haven't noticed the change in morale since this morning. Everyone looked last night like they were ready to give up on life and now they look like they're ready to conquer the world. We're not the only excited ones."

"How long did it take to get the community running like it was?" Lisette asked.

Michonne shrugged.

Sometimes it was easy to forget that they'd known Lisette a relatively short amount of time. Sometimes, when she asked questions, it was easy to forget that she knew so little about what they'd done and what they'd been through because it was almost the easiest thing in the world for Michonne's mind to simply insert the woman into places and scenarios that she'd never been.

And Lisette was still piecing the whole thing together because, with the air that had surrounded Mercedes when they'd entered, Lisette had avoided asking a lot of questions about how they came to be the people that they were.

"It took a little while," Michonne said. "We got the basics set up pretty quickly, but everything else? We just kept…building. It was a little by little thing. Someone got an idea…it worked or it didn't. Someone else got an idea, and it just went from there. This time might be different. We're not restricting ourselves to something pre-built. Tyreese and Daryl are willing to put up our own walls…build them the way they want them built…make them easy to expand if we need more room."

"More room for more people?" Lisette asked, tossing a handful of sodden laundry in the direction of the basket.

Carol came through not a moment after the clothes had made their mark and put another basket down for them, heaving up the basket of dripping clothes.

"Water still good or you need fresh?" She asked.

Michonne made a face at her.

"Fresh and the sooner the better," she said.

Carol nodded.

"Next pot coming off the fire is yours," Carol said. "I'll let them know."

When she'd gone off to pass off information and hang up soggy clothes, Michonne turned back to Lisette.

"More people, yes," Michonne said. "There's strength in numbers, there always has been…"

She stopped talking and laughed to herself, shaking her head at her own thoughts.

"I used to be of the mindset that we could just make it alone in this world," Michonne said. "And maybe you can…but it isn't really a life worth living. It's just surviving. So…more people…and there will be more children. We don't have birth control and we've learned that prayer doesn't always work too effectively."

Lisette laughed.

"It's good for the children, though…the new generation," she commented.

"Mmm hmmm," Michonne agreed.

Both of them warmly thanked Libby when she appeared lugging a bucket of hot water and helped them switch out the already soaking clothes from the dirty water into the clean water. She paused a moment, commenting on the day, commenting on how nice the walk down to the creek was, and then she disappeared, probably for another such walk.

"What about bringing in new people?" Lisette asked when they returned to working. "I hope…"

She broke off and Michonne glanced at her, raising her eyebrows to push her to keep talking. Lisette shook her head.

"I just hope that...everything that happened with Mercedes, that it isn't made you think twice about bringing new people in," Lisette said. "Calista and I are very happy with the group, and if you hadn't brought us in, I don't know where we'd be right now."

"We've had our share of good and bad," Michonne commented. "What happened with Mercedes isn't going to deter us…we just know now that we mean what we've said before. We're going to take care of problems before they become bigger problems. We've been burned before when it would have simply been better to take care of it before it got out of control. But even if we did decide not to take anyone else in, you and Calista aren't responsible for Mercedes any more than any of us is responsible for the other."

Tyreese and Daryl were the next to pass by. Tyreese dropped off a basket of dirty clothes to replace the dwindling pile that they already had and pointed to the wet basket.

"These go to Carol?" He asked.

"Yes," Michonne responded, "but if you're taking that basket you've got to leave the other…we have to have somewhere to put what we wash."

Tyreese nodded and switched the baskets out.

"She told me to ask if you need more water," Tyreese added.

Michonne nodded.

"The answer to that question is always yes unless there are no more dirty clothes coming," she commented. "What are you and Daryl doing?"

"Fixing the beds in the rooms with kids so the kids don't fall off and break their necks," Tyreese responded.

That explained why Daryl was rummaging about in one of the supply wagons. He was obviously going for the tools.

"You're not waking Beau up, are you?" Michonne asked, knowing the boy hadn't slept the night before.

"Beau could sleep through anything right now," Tyreese said with a chuckle. "What do you think? Leave him here to keep an eye out for things, or take him with us when we go?"

"If you're both going?" Michonne asked, accepting Tyreese's nod. "Leave him here…we don't know what could happen here and Beau's good in a crunch without Daryl around."

Tyreese nodded.

"I'll tell Carol about the water," he said. "Looks like we're all getting hot baths today too. Hallelujah! I was starting to get tired of my own smell."

Michonne laughed and shook her head as he started off with the laundry and Daryl, having found the toolbox he was searching for, started back toward the project they were clearly working on, throwing a quick glance in Michonne's direction and offering her a wink once he saw that she was looking at him.

She smiled to herself.

"The men around here are something else," Lisette said. "Don't get me wrong…I loved my husband dearly, but sometimes it was a fight just to get him to wash his dishes…I can't imagine him getting involved in all of this…"

She broke off talking, the last word drawing out to a point that Michonne could tell she wasn't done, she simply hadn't worked out the rest of the statement that would follow.

"I guess, though, if he'd been doing it for his family, he would have done it…" Lisette finished after a moment.

"That's the thing," Michonne said. "I think that…all of this has changed us all. My husband, my first husband…I couldn't imagine him in this world. I think, sometimes, that's why he didn't make it. He was gone as soon as things started happening. The rest of us? We adapt to keep on living. You don't always have to love what you do, but you do it because you love who you're with and you love the life you're trying to have. That's what's going to get us through this...or at least what's going to get us through whatever we have to get through to keep on going."

"So you were married before Daryl?" Lisette said.

"I told you I had children," Michonne offered. "Before Hope and Zeb…I had two daughters."

"I know. Honestly, I forgot," Lisette said after a moment. "It's just hard to imagine now…seeing you with Daryl…that you were married to someone else."

Michonne nodded her head, but she understood the sentiment.

"I was," Michonne said. "And I was divorced from him too."

She laughed to herself.

"That's the oddest part…maybe…about all of us," she offered after another moment. "We all used to have different lives. We used to be…"

She broke off and shook her head.

"Maybe we wouldn't have even recognized each other, but now?" She continued.

"Now we've all got a common goal, and we've got a lot of common ground," Lisette finished, nodding her head to show that she already knew perfectly well where Michonne was going.

"Right now my common goal is trying to get these clothes washed," Michonne said with a laugh, deciding to take it upon herself to lighten the situation so that her mood returned to what it had been before instead of the slightly darkened mood that came over whenever she thought too much about her life before all of this…about her daughters especially. "I don't know about you, but I'm with Tyreese, and that hot bath sounds like about the best thing that could happen in my life at the moment."

Lisette laughed and nodded enthusiastically.

"If I'd ever known that I was going to miss bathing this much, I wouldn't have taken all those baths I used to have for granted," Lisette said. "But…maybe before long it will become something regular to us again. In our own little kingdom? There could be hot baths every night."

"Dream big," Michonne said reaching over and dumping a little more of the dirty clothes into the water before craning her neck to see if anyone was coming soon with more clean water for them. "That's what we're all doing…we're dreaming big."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Michonne had been out before breakfast with Libby and she'd made them three Walker pets out of the only Walkers they'd been able to round up in the immediate area. The half rotted, putrid smelling things stood now, growling and bumping into each other at intervals, tied to a tree just beyond the iron gates surrounding the motel complex.

Daryl worried that the smell of the Walkers would confuse Sadie, but he figured if they kept the woman out a small distance from whoever was leading them…if the kept her out front with him since he'd undoubtedly be leading the small group until they stumbled upon whatever it was they were likely to stumble upon…then maybe she wouldn't get so confused that she wouldn't be able to warn him about any large herds that they might be just about to walk right into.

On Michonne's advice he was taking Tyreese, Glenn, Sadie, and Calista with him on this little adventure, each of them carrying just enough supplies to get the group through five days at most of wandering. He couldn't imagine, not after the time they'd put in on the road, that five days would be enough to find whatever magical land it was that they were searching for, but he was hopeful…and sometimes that was all they really had.

Michonne leaned into him, her forehead touching his, and she turned her head enough to bump her nose against his, playing with him for the moment.

"I wish I was going with you," she said. Daryl figured it was about the fourth time she'd said it.

"Gotta stay here," he said. "With the kids…somethin' happen they gonna need you, 'Chonne."

She hummed at him and rubbed her face against his before kissing him and backing away from him enough to allow him to take in all of her face instead of just primarily her eyes, which was about all he could get any clear read on when they were that close.

"I know, but it doesn't mean that I don't want to go," Michonne responded. She glanced around and he did too at everyone else saying their goodbyes. "Be careful…and keep an eye on Calista. She's never been out like this…and if you run into people…watch out for Sadie. And Daryl? Talk to her like she's a person, not a Golden Retriever."

Daryl chuckled and shook his head.

"I got it, 'Chonne…I'ma take care of both of 'em. Everyone's coming right back from this…and if we got any luck at all, we gonna be building that little house you want…just like you want it…before the month's even up," Daryl said.

Michonne smiled softly at him and then she straightened her face, furrowing her brows.

"And don't you go out there and get cocky either," Michonne declared. "You be careful and you mark your trail. You can't ask for directions back here."

Daryl chuckled, knowing that she was simply teasing him in her own way.

"I'm a dude, 'Chonne…we don't ask for directions no way," Daryl declared.

He leaned in, kissing her, and playfully tugged at her hair so that she would slap back at him before he laughed and stepped away, closer to everyone else that was saying goodbye for the run as though none of them would ever see their significant others and children again.

Beau was standing close by with Zeb and Hope, giving Michonne and Daryl a moment, and Daryl took Zeb from him and balanced him against his leg as he leaned down to be closer to Hope's level.

"You watch out for your Ma, OK? She's gonna need you to sleep with her…and she's gonna need you to be real good," Daryl said to the little girl.

Hope nodded her head at him, her eyes big. She'd had herself a grand fit this morning when they'd told her that he was going on the run, but she seemed to be over it for the time being. Zeb wasn't old enough to care yet so he just saw the extra kisses and hugs from Daryl as something special that he'd earned by merit of being cute.

"And you…don't'cha start walking 'til I get back," Daryl said.

Zeb just smiled at him and hummed out a response while he tried to pull his nose off his face…a game that was far more entertaining to the boy than it was to Daryl.

Daryl hugged and kissed Hope, listened to her new concern about something that Judith had acquired that she wanted, and promised her that if she raised the issue with Carol, the woman would take care of making sure that Hope got one of whatever it was too.

Then he straightened up and passed Zeb to Michonne before addressing everyone else.

"Alright sad sacks," Daryl called out, "sooner we hit the road, sooner we get back…let's get going."

And on his command his small troop shuffled about, gathered their supplies, and offered final goodbyes before they set out of the iron gates, collected their Walker pets, and fell into formation for a walk that would take them, hopefully, to find their new home.

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Daryl noticed the twitching that Sadie was doing was getting worse. She did it when the Walker smell got overwhelming to her, and it was almost like she was trying to get her face away from it when there wasn't anywhere for her to go.

He reached and grabbed her by the top of the arm, holding his hand up so that when she turned, startled, she would calm almost as quickly as she'd become frightened by his touch.

"Walkers?" He asked, pointing at his nose.

He hadn't ever learned her language…the complicated language that she used to communicate sometimes, especially when she was too tired to put whatever effort into it that there was involved in speaking…but he'd developed with her his own version of it that got them through most things, even if she was too stirred up to talk.

She nodded.

"It's terrible," she said, her voice coming out louder than he might have liked. He hushed her.

"Ours or more?" He asked.

She shrugged and he made a face. What he'd feared might happen was happening the whole way. She was detecting the stench of Walkers…but it was, unfortunately, the stench of those they were keeping with them to deter the small passing groups that slinked past them.

"Is it worse than it was?" He asked.

"Yeah," she said. "It's getting worse."

Daryl nodded.

"That means either we headed into them or they comin' for us," he said.

He turned around and held Sadie into place while he waited for the others behind him to get close enough he could hear him hissing at them, not wanting to draw on a crowd before they had to come face to face with them.

"Walkers…everybody be ready," he hissed.

And the glint of knives told him that everyone was almost instantly armed.

And it wasn't a moment too soon…because they didn't clear the next little dip in the land before they walked right into the migrating herd of fifty or more if there were two.

Daryl knew when they threw themselves into the mix that there wasn't any need worrying too much about the others. Everyone in the group was fairly well skilled when it came to Walkers and in a herd of this side there wasn't saving anyone else anyway…it was every man for himself.

He slashed blindly through the corpses that ambled in his direction. Each time his knife made a the sickening crunch through the side of a skull, an eye socket, or under a chin he ripped it free as fast as he could to make it just in time to meet the next one that had its hands already on him.

By the time that the bodies stopped coming toward him, Daryl's heart was thundering against his ribcage and he could barely swallow. He'd lost his pack somewhere in the madness and he'd lost the location of any of his companions.

One by one, though, they slowly came into his focus, all of them obviously breathing with ragged breaths and searching among the heaps of bodies for everything that they'd lost too in the fight. Their pets, just like the dangerous Walkers, had dropped in the confusion of the moment.

"Where's Calista?" Daryl spit, finally able to get words out again.

Glenn and Tyreese both looked around, now realizing that they'd lost the girl.

And when they heard her, it wasn't too long before they found her. Somehow, in all the confusion and falling bodies she'd gotten knocked down…and she'd very nearly gotten buried alive under the corpses.

"You OK?" Daryl asked as they cleared the bodies off her. "You ain't bit? Scratched?"

She hissed at them before she was able to speak, but finally mumbled that she didn't think so…she wasn't bit…but she wasn't OK.

Tyreese, on his knees next to her, had already begun the inspection of her for anything she might not be aware of, a difficult job when someone's skin was slick with Walker mess.

"That ankle's definitely messed up," he commented after she directed them to her source of pain.

"Shit," Daryl spat. He stood off for a moment and then shrugged. "There ain't nothing we can do but go back. We can't wander around a couple of days when she can't walk."

"We can't make it back tonight if we wanted to," Tyreese offered, not having gained his feet from where he was sitting now beside Calista. "It's going to be too dark and the Walkers will be worse. We've got to find a place and haul it in for the night."

Daryl nodded.

He felt his heart sinking at the prospect of going back. It wasn't like they'd lose all that much time, but it felt as though they were being met with failure right out the gates.

"Yeah…first light we'll head back," Daryl said.

"Or we can keep going," Glenn offered.

"She can't put weight on her foot," Daryl said. "How are we gonna keep going? Tyreese and me both can take turns carryin' her to wherever we spend the night and getting her back, but it's gonna be too damn much to keep going with her."

"I'm sorry…" Calista protested. "I'm sorry…I can keep going…it's not that bad…"

And Daryl felt worse, then, because he knew that they were making her feel guilty for something that could have happened to any of them. It was easy to fall in that chaos and spraining an ankle with dozens of bodies falling full force on you wasn't hard to do.

"Cal," Daryl said quickly, holding a hand up, "it ain't no big deal. We gonna find a place for the night, we gotta do that anyway. Then tomorrow we take you back…at least you ain't bit."

She nodded her head at him.

"Or," Glenn offered, "we can find a place for the night that's pretty safe…clear it out…leave her there with Sadie and some supplies. We make our circle back to there to pick them up before we head in. It cuts a day out of the trip for us that we'd have to make if we took them back."

Tyreese shook his head.

"I don't know about just leaving Sadie and Calista out somewhere, not with Calista injured," Tyreese said.

"We'd be fine," Calista offered quickly. "If I needed to…I could still fight. I could be Sadie's ears."

Daryl sighed.

"Listen, there ain't no need in talking more about it tonight," he offered. "We'll get you somewhere, get something for us all to eat…and tomorrow we'll figure it out. Let's get the hell outta here, though."

Everyone got their bags and Daryl took up Calista's pack to add to the weight of his own while Tyreese got the girl up and got Glenn to help get her on his back so that she'd be easier to carry. And Daryl hoped it didn't take them long and that they didn't encounter any other Walkers before they were able to get settled in somewhere for the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hi everyone! Here's another little chapter to keep us moving along! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"It's a great place to start," Tyreese declared.

Daryl didn't need any convincing. He knew that the place that they'd found looked to him to be about the best they were likely to do…the best they could do without continuing on some kind of wild goose chase where they'd spend time looking for something that they might never find, something better that might not even exist. It was time better spent turning what they'd already found into the place of their dreams, a place that they wouldn't mind leaving to their children.

And if his mood didn't show the he was excited for what they had found, it wasn't owing to his lack of excitement over the possibility of starting their new life even sooner than they'd thought, it was owing to his concern about the two women that they'd left, alone, in a small cabin in the middle of the woods.

They were moving quicker than they'd intended to move because after leaving Sadie and Calista in the cabin, Daryl had them double timing their steps through the woods, worrying every step of the way.

And it had taken them less time than they thought it would to come across the piece of land that Daryl thought, and Glenn and Tyreese agreed, would be the perfect starting point for the community they planned to build…and it left a lot of room to expand which would naturally be cleared as they downed trees for timber.

But since this morning they'd been moving with even more speed back toward the cabin because Daryl had spotted a smoke column from what he was sure was a camp fire…and one that wasn't in the direction of the motel where they'd left their group.

They weren't alone in the woods…but Calista and Sadie had no one but themselves to depend on if they were paid a visit and their visitors weren't friendly.

"It really is," Glenn said. "It's secluded. It's private, but the highway isn't too far from here. It should be easy to go out and search surrounding areas. We can get whatever supplies are left around here."

Daryl cast his eyes toward the faded smoke hanging in the air that he could barely see through the pine trees. They were getting closer, he knew from his notches on the trees that he'd used to mark the trail, to the cabin where the women were, but he was also realizing how close they were to the smoke.

They'd practically left their friends directly in the den of the strangers…they'd left them there like bait waiting in the water.

Tyreese clearly followed Daryl's eyes, because when he spoke next his tone of voice had changed and so had the subject matter of his words.

"It could be our group," Tyreese said.

"Wrong direction," Daryl responded.

"Sadie?" Tyreese said.

Daryl shook his head to himself.

"Close…but too far away," Daryl said. "Besides…Sadie's too damn smart ta start up a fire when she's the only damn one around takin' care of both of them. We'd do best to just speed our feet up and get on…I got a bad feeling about this."

And the two men did speed their feet up, leaving behind the celebration over the plot of land and the conversation about what they would tell everyone when they returned in favor of getting back to the two women with as much speed as possible.

And that speed increased even more when they heard the howling of a wild animal…or at least that's what they might have thought it was if Daryl hadn't been there to tell them that it was a sound he knew, and it was Sadie.

He took off in a dash and only hoped that the two men stayed with him as he covered ground back to the cabin as quickly as he could. He found it with more ease than he might have suspected and ran up the steps, cursing to himself to find the building abandoned.

Immediately he started to try to track what had happened, turning from his efforts only momentarily when he heard the dry crunch of leaves behind him and saw that Glenn and Tyreese, both more out of breath than they'd been before, had caught up with him.

"Gone!" Daryl spat.

"Gone where?" Glenn asked.

Daryl grit his teeth not to show his annoyance at the man's questions. If he knew where they were gone he wouldn't be holding his arms out to keep them from disturbing the ground any more than it had been disturbed in hopes of figuring out the who and where of what had happened.

Daryl pointed to the ground.

"There…someone was bein' drug…an' if I know her it was Sadie 'cause they was digging in their heels every inch of the way," Daryl said.

He started following the trail, and it got easier to follow as they went, her weight getting progressively more for the booted individual dragging her to handle.

Another howl, this time in close proximity, let Daryl close the gap quickly between where he was and where he found Sadie, being drug with an arm around her throat, by a man who wasn't too much older and bigger than Beau.

"Let her go," Daryl called out as he saw the man, raising his crossbow.

The man looked surprised to see him, and Daryl was surprised to see the other man with him that stepped out from behind a thicket a few steps away.

"Let her go, we don't want no trouble…just let her go," Daryl said.

The man who had Sadie by the throat laughed.

"Don't think so," he said. "We got 'em both, fair and square."

"You can't get people," Daryl said. "They're humans…not yours to have. Where's the other one?"

He heard, though, another of the wild animal calls not to far from them and realized that both women were capable, apparently, of producing the blood curdling howls.

"Let 'em both go," Daryl repeated. "Or I swear I'll kill every damn one of you…you surrounded. There's more of us than you can see."

The man holding Sadie slackened up on his grip a little and looked around as though he were trying to see if Daryl was telling the truth and Daryl took the opportunity of distraction to fire off an arrow as quickly as he could and drop the other man…the one who had come out of the thicket…tipping the odds in their favor more.

The man with his arm around Sadie's throat drew a knife as quickly as Daryl could reload the crossbow and held it at Sadie's throat, digging it in deep enough that she thrashed against him and Daryl saw the trickle of blood run down from where the blade pierced the skin.

"Let…her…go," Daryl said, feeling his temperature rise. "Let's go find the other damn one and you let both of 'em go or I swear to ya ass…I'ma kill ya dead."

Daryl wasn't even aware at the moment, any longer, of the presence of Glenn and Tyreese. His attention was entirely on what was happening in front of him. The man began, without taking his eyes off of Daryl or getting rid of the blade, to back away from Daryl, dragging Sadie along with him.

And Daryl edged forward slowly to match his pace with the man's retreat.

It wasn't long before he knew exactly what the man was doing too…because two other men came into view, one with Calista bound and thrown over his shoulder as though she were a rug or a sack of something instead of a human being.

They were even…three men for them…three men on Dary's side, assuming that his companions behind him were as prepared to fight as he was.

"This crazy fucker killed Jamie!" The man holding Sadie spat.

Daryl was having a hard time figuring out who to keep in his sight at the moment. If he chose the wrong one or they didn't respond quickly enough, they could lose one or both of the women.

"We don't wanna kill no damn body," Daryl said. "Just let the women go, and we'll be on our way…"

And he never listened to what they had to say because he'd made his decision. He swung as quickly as he could, aimed with a quick prayer that he hit what he was going for, and fired an arrow directly into the eye of the man that was holding Sadie, the immediately lifeless body dropping back and tugging her down with him for the moment before she was up with the knife that had nicked her throat.

The other two men look stunned, and obviously realized they were sorely outnumbered at the moment, because the one holding Calista put her down on the ground like he was dropping off that same sack of potatoes and backed up, both of them having taken on the stance of surrendering men, holding their hands out in front of them and wearing the expressions of deer caught in headlights.

Daryl glanced toward Sadie and she was staring at him, hard and cold. He swallowed and hoped that she understood what the slightest nod of his head meant to convey to her.

And obviously she did, because she launched herself at one of the men and Daryl dropped the other just as she hit the man she was after, the man who had Calista earlier, falling to the ground with him and letting out a growl that run around them in the wooded area.

As quickly as it started, it was over, and Sadie was stumbling about, cutting the binding ropes around Calista's legs and wrists while Daryl collected up the arrows that he could wrench free from the unlucky men that had caught them with their faces.

"You alright?" He barked at Calista who was still lying on the ground.

She nodded, but she didn't seem to have her tongue about her for the moment.

Daryl walked over and caught Sadie by the arm, pulling her so that he could see her and then moved his hand to catch her head and pull it back, looking at the cut on her neck.

"Gonna need stitches," he said, dropping his crossbow and ripping part of his shirt off, tying it around her throat without her objecting to the move.

It was only then that he turned to find Tryeese and Glenn, both with weapons drawn and mouths open, their eyes wide.

"Ty…can you get Calista? I'll switch off with you after a bit," Daryl said.

And he started to walk forward, downing a Walker that was wandering close to them, come to inspect the noise.

"We're goin' back…done here," he said.

And he assumed, once he heard the crunching of leaves behind him, that they'd loaded Calista up on Tyreese's back and they were all following after him as he backtracked his way toward the motel where they'd left their group, hoping they could make it by nightfall, but recognizing that they might very well have to camp somewhere for the night and finish the last league of the journey by the morning light.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Where's Isaac?" Michonne asked, coming up to where Carol was putting in a valiant effort to finish with laundry that was steadily replenishing itself. She wasn't used to seeing her friend without the baby hanging on her body.

Carol turned with a start, but calmed almost instantly, pointing at something like a small tent that she'd set up nearby where, under closer inspection, Michonne could see Isaac wallowing around while Zeb was being entertained by him.

"He's there," Carol said. "I thought it might do him good to get down for a little bit and use his muscles while he's got the chance."

"You're probably right," Michonne responded. "I'm sure he doesn't know what to do without you holding him..."

"He's doing good, though," Carol replied. "He's been stretching and acting like he's swimming, and he's been singing to Zeb."

"Carol, Michonne!" Carl's somewhat squeaking voice rang out. "They're coming! I see them coming!"

"Everyone?" Michonne called out in response to him as she jogged toward the gates surrounding the motel complex.

Carl reached her side before anyone else, shading his eyes from the sun.

"Everyone's back," Carl said. "But it looks like they're carrying Calista. Sadie was trailing back too, but I couldn't really see if anything was wrong. They're not a quarter of a mile out."

The boy had been on watch since the sun had come up. They had him out there watching for anything that they needed to be aware of, but they hadn't really expected the party to be back...they'd really tried not to try to put any expectation at all on the party.

Slowly the group trailed into view and by then Michonne was aware that she and Carl were no longer alone to welcome them back.

"Is she OK?" Lisette's voice rang out from just over Michonne's shoulder.

Tyreese was piggybacking Calista and she smiled at them as she approached.

"I'm fine," she declared. "I got tired of walking and faked an injury so that they'd carry me."

"Looks like a sprain," Daryl commented. "Get Carol to look at it and Sadie's gotta have three, maybe more, stitches in her neck. I got it bound and had it bound since last night but it's still leakin' a little and ain't showin' signs of closing up on its own."

"Good Lord, Daryl!" Carol declared in response to his words while everyone moved out of the way to let the dirty and worn members of their group inside the gates. "What did y'all run into?"

"Nothing to worry about now," Daryl muttered, leaning and pecking Michonne on the cheek before he walked off in the direction of where Hope and Judith were waiting and trying to extend their own greeting to their fathers. "Found us a place too...couple days and we gonna get to work."

Without saying anything else, Daryl walked with a quick pace toward Hope, scooped her up, and continued walking as though he were going to the back of the motel complex.

Michonne watched him go, but she could tell by his gait that something was on his mind…and she knew by now that Daryl would approach her when he wanted to talk about it. Anything else would only push him into frustration, and that was the last thing they needed.

Instead, she offered to take Isaac from Carol so that she could follow Sadie who was already walking with determination up the steps of the motel and Tyreese who was huffing along and still carting Calista toward her room, Lisette walking close at his side and asking him questions that he didn't have the breath to answer.

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Daryl wasn't exactly gone…he was somewhere in the motel complex and Hope was with him, but Michonne wasn't exactly sure where he was or what he was doing with their firstborn. Still, Hope hadn't sounded any kind of alarm and she assumed that meant that wherever they were or whatever they were doing, they were fine.

Daryl obviously needed his time…and he obviously needed Hope for whatever he was working through.

She tried to keep herself busy, getting the food together for dinner and helping Carol take inventory of what they had and what they might need to hold them over now that they had the promise of a place to go.

And they tried to avoid talking about what might have happened because anyone that was part of the party clearly wasn't spilling any information…it was something they would have to wait for.

When she saw Carl walking, his head hung slightly, down the motel steps, though, Michonne knew something was up. Rick wasn't too far behind him.

"Any of the rooms on the bottom cleaned out?" Carl called in the general direction where Michonne and Carol were.

"All of them are," Michonne called back.

"Not the one on the very end…or…next to the end," Carol called quickly. "It's Walker free…but it's pretty disgusting."

Carl nodded his head and disappeared before Rick came walking toward them with the lazy walk that almost made Michonne laugh because she'd heard Daryl refer to it one too many times as Rick's "cowboy sway".

"Where's Daryl?" Rick asked.

Michonne straightened up from where she was and wiped off whatever it was that was on her hands onto her pants. They'd had more than one jar bust along the way.

"I don't know, Rick," Michonne said. "He's somewhere…he's got Hope…Tyreese is off too."

Rick sucked his teeth and nodded his head.

"You got any idea what happened out there?" Rick asked.

Michonne shook her head and instinctively looked to Carol to see if the woman might have any idea, though she knew that Carol had shared with her already everything that she knew, which wasn't much.

"Why? What's going on?" Michonne asked.

"It's Sadie," Rick said. "She says she doesn't want anyone around…she told me and Carl to find another room…I was hoping for a little insight."

Michonne nodded and sucked in a breath. She looked to Carol and Carol was looking at her with some concern.

"I'll talk to her," Michonne said definitively, glancing back at Rick. "Just…give me a few minutes…and I'll see what I can do."

Rick nodded his head, thanked her, and wandered off in the same general direction that Carl had gone before Michonne turned to Carol with a sigh.

"You've got dinner?" Michonne asked.

Carol nodded.

"Any idea what I'm walking into?" Michonne asked.

Carol shook her head.

"She didn't talk while I was working on the stitches," Carol said. "It's hard enough to do stitches there…but afterwards I just thought she was tired."

Michonne sighed again and nodded her head before heading toward Sadie's room, all the way alternating between hoping she would magically know how to handle whatever the situation was and thinking that, since the world had come to a crashing end, she might have earned an honorary degree in psychology.

Michonne didn't bother knocking at Sadie's door, it wasn't like the courtesy would do her any good. She opened the door and let herself into the room, immediately crossing the room and finding a lantern to light.

Sadie was already sitting up on the bed, but she wasn't staring at Michonne. She was staring straight ahead and it was more than clear that she'd been crying.

Michonne sat down on the other bed and looked at Sadie, wondering how this would work if Sadie made up her mind not to communicate with her.

She leaned forward finally and touched Sadie on the leg, moving her own body to sit on the same bed in the same fluid movement. Sadie looked at her and then she shook her head at her. Michonne nodded back at her in response.

"What happened?" Michonne asked, gesturing toward her throat.

Sadie shook her head again.

"I'm not going anywhere," Michonne said. "And Rick…and Carl…and Mark…and Paul…they're all going to want to see you, so you're going to need to tell me what I'm supposed to tell them."

"Tell them…I need to go," Sadie said. "I need to leave."

Michonne raised her eyebrows at the woman.

She thought to herself that she was far too good at getting caught in the middle of the crisis when they happened…she was far too good at catching everyone at some of their deepest and darkest moments.

Still, everyone was allowed to have their breaks, so Michonne figured she might as well ride this one out as surely as she'd ridden out the others.

"Go where, Sadie? Where are you going?" Michonne asked.

Sadie shrugged.

"Doesn't matter…I shouldn't have come back," she said.

Michonne made a face.

"Tell me what happened…what happened to you, what happened to Calista?" Michonne asked.

Sadie shook her head.

"It's my fault," she said.

"I heard Calista fell," Michonne said. Calista had at least given them that much information. There had been Walkers, she'd fallen. That was common…these things happened. In fact, they were lucky that she'd stumbled out of that with only a slightly injured ankle that, given a few days of elevation, would be as good as new. "How is that your fault?"

Sadie shook her head.

"No…the Walkers weren't my fault," Sadie said. "The men…they came to the cabin. They were inside. I left her, I stepped outside…they could have killed her or worse. It's my fault. I was supposed to take care of her."

Michonne raised an eyebrow at Sadie and the gesture alone was enough to ask Sadie for more information.

Sadie swallowed and Michonne saw a look wash across her face that let her know that the cut at her throat, wherever it had come from, that Carol had stitched back together "as best she could" and reported as being shallow but a jagged tear wasn't exactly painless.

"She could have been killed," Sadie said, drawing out her words the way she sometimes did when she thought that someone wasn't understanding her. "It was my fault. I should go…I can't…"

She broke off and shook her head.

"You can't what?" Michonne asked, reaching up and touching Sadie's chin so that the woman wouldn't turn her head away and effectively end their conversation.

"I can't take care of anyone," Sadie said. "I am…dangerous…I am…a liability…I can't protect anyone."

Michonne let go of Sadie's chin for the moment and tried to wrap her mind around the whole thing because, at the same time, she could see both the practical side of things that told her that nothing that had happened was really Sadie's fault, and she could also see the side that Sadie was seeing at the moment.

In a world where your abilities defined you, Michonne couldn't imagine how she'd feel if she were suddenly struck without one of her senses…and Sadie had always lacked one of them.

After a moment, Michonne sucked in a breath and touched Sadie again, drawing her attention back. She slid the pad of her thumb across Sadie's face and smudged a tear that she caught against the palm of her hand.

"You have just as much…" Michonne said, stopping a moment to think over her words again before continuing, "you have every bit as much ability as any of us. If they asked me…besides Daryl…who I wanted out there…who I thought could really, really have my back in a fight? It would be you."

Sadie made a face at her and shook her head.

Michonne nodded her head slowly and with determination.

"I mean that," Michonne said. "If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't say it. I wouldn't want to fight with you…not ever…not for real. You made it this far because you are strong. You are every bit as strong as the rest of us. You're every bit as strong as I am…and you can't hear, but you haven't let that stop you yet…and I'm not going to sit here and let you let that stop you now. Paul needs you. You're his mother. Carl needs you. The boy has already lost one mother and he…cares…he cares about you. Don't you walk away from him. Because if you try to walk away from him then you're not the woman that I thought you were…you're not the woman that I respect…you're not the woman that I would trust with my life and the lives of my children."

When Sadie broke, Michonne saw it coming. She did the only thing that she knew to do and she lurched forward, catching her in a hug. She let herself cry right along with Sadie…not because she knew her pain exactly, but because they had all broken and they would all likely break again, and it was hard not to feel for someone else when they reached that edge.

Finally, when Sadie pulled away from her, Michonne looked around and finally offered her the only thing she could find to use as a handkerchief, a shirt that belonged to someone, to wipe at her eyes and her nose.

"I didn't protect her," Sadie said.

Michonne didn't need to know all the details. She suspected now, though, that she could imagine what might be troubling Daryl…what he might have needed his own time out for.

"Did Calista hear them coming?" Michonne asked.

Sadie stared at her and furrowed her brow. Finally she shrugged and shook her head.

"I don't know…" Sadie admitted.

Michonne nodded her head.

"If she heard them coming," Michonne said, "then she had just as much opportunity to save herself as you would have had of saving her. And…if she didn't hear them coming…then you're no different. You did nothing wrong…and you're not leaving this group."

Sadie stared hard at Michonne for a moment and Michonne held her gaze with an equally hard stare. Finally, Sadie nodded her head.

"Thank you…" Sadie offered.

Michonne shook her head.

"Don't thank me," Michonne said. "Get up…go find Carl and Rick, they're downstairs. Then we need help with supper if you think you can manage…and no more nonsense."

Michonne pointed her finger at Sadie, her face still damp, with the last words and something of a smile broke through on the woman's lips.

"Yes ma'am!" Sadie slurred, drawing the words out unnaturally to emphasize them. She laughed lightly and offered Michonne a fake salute that made Michonne laugh in spite of herself.

"God I hate you sometimes," Michonne said, rolling her eyes at Sadie. She pointed her finger at her again. "Don't you forget it, though…I'm in charge of you."

Sadie smiled broader than before and nodded her head before she sighed. Michonne leaned forward, catching her in a light hug that Sadie returned, and then Michonne got to her feet to leave the woman to get ready to go downstairs.

She returned, then, to fixing dinner with Carol, ignoring Carol's questions about what happened with the excuse that it didn't matter and everything was just fine, while she rolled about in her head the many things the conversation could be about when Daryl finally felt that he was ready to come to her with whatever he was dealing with at the moment.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. **

**Thank you to everyone who is supportive of this story. I'm so glad you're enjoying it because I'm really enjoying writing it. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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After supper, Daryl had returned to his activities where he'd settled alone near the back of the gated complex. He'd brought Hope back there earlier and gotten the little girl to help him on his "treasure hunt" for the rocks in the area that were best suited to make arrow heads out of…and now he was busy making arrow heads out of those very same rocks.

He heard Tyreese coming, but he wasn't surprised by it. Tyreese had hovered around him since they'd gotten back from the trip they'd taken, though he hadn't actually spoken any words.

When the man finally settled down to sit not too far from Daryl on what was a poorly constructed stone bench that may or may not support the man's weight for any length of time, Daryl was finally driven to speak to him if for nothing else but to end the uncomfortable silence.

"You gonna say what the hell's on your mind?" Daryl asked.

The light was fading and it wouldn't be long before Daryl was driven inside to abandon his arrowheads for the evening, but he was holding out as long as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tyreese drag a hand over his face.

"I'm not going to say that you did," Tyreese said, "but do you think that you might have…are you sure that you handled things the way they…had to be handled?"

Daryl chuckled to himself.

"You think I overreacted," he said frankly.

"I didn't say that…I just wanted to make sure…" Tyreese started.

But Daryl cut him off.

"You wanted to make sure I ain't lost my mind?" Daryl asked. "You wanted to make sure I didn't overreact? That I thought about what I done? You wanted to make sure that killin' ain't got just too easy for me?"

Daryl stopped with the rock that he was handling at the moment and looked at Tyreese.

Tyreese nodded slightly at him, but he didn't speak. It wasn't really necessary for him to speak at the moment.

"I'll tell you the truth…killin', it is pretty damn easy for me now," Daryl admitted. "And…I was just sittin' here…wonderin' if I felt sorry for it…wonderin' if I oughta feel sorry for it. But I don't. They was gonna kill Sadie, sure as shit, cut her throat."

"I don't think they wanted to kill her…" Tyreese offered.

Daryl laughed again and shook his head, raising his eyebrows at Tyreese.

"No…no they weren't gonna kill her, not until we showed up," Daryl said. "But I know what the hell they was gonna do to her before that…what they was gonna do to Calista. And they were gonna kill her once we did show up. Cut her throat, right there…every damn thing we all been through and they was just gonna cut her throat, right in front of us…let us watch her die."

Daryl turned his attention back to the stone a moment before he paused and spoke again.

"If it'd been Carol…or do you think if you were Glenn and it was Maggie…if I'd done what I did then, do you think you'd wonder if I mighta overreacted?" Daryl asked. "And if they were gonna do any of that now…then I figured, and I think I'm right for it, that it was best to just up and do away with all of 'em…'cause that means there's less of them fuckers in the world now…less of them fuckers that one day would do the same damn thing…same thing to Hope…to Jude…"

Daryl saw Tyreese's face change and he nodded his head slightly.

"I didn't lose my mind, and I didn't overreact," Daryl said. "But killin'…it's real damn easy to me when it comes down to it because we ain't losin' no one because I was too slow taking some asshole down."

He shook his head in time with his own thoughts.

"Nope…not 'cause I was too damn slow," Daryl said. "And now? Now there's a little less bad in the world...a little less bad that Hope and Judith and every other damn kid around here's gonna have to deal with one day."

Tyreese nodded and stood up. He crossed the area over to where Daryl was and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"I didn't think you'd lost your mind," Tyreese said. "I just wanted to make sure that you knew what you were doing…but I think you did the right thing. And, you're right, and maybe I'm just not as…ready as you are…for everything because if it had been Carol or Judith, I would have wanted you to shoot before you did."

Daryl just nodded his head and began to collect together his stones to take inside with him so that he didn't lose them somehow or some mischievous squirrel didn't scatter them so that he had to bring Hope back out there to go on an Easter egg hunt for future weapons.

"What are you doing?" Tyreese asked.

"Making arrow heads," Daryl said. "The rocks around here…because of the river…where the hell we are…they're the best you can get for making good solid arrowheads."

He held one of the ones he'd been working with up so that Tyreese could somewhat see it in the failing light.

"Figure Beau can make these into some real nice arrows for everyone," Daryl said. "Figure we might need 'em…I ain't dumb enough to think after yesterday that we alone out here…and like I said, I ain't playing around with no one. I'ma kill first…and dead men don't answer no damn questions."

Daryl got up then and took the last of his stones, filling his pockets and reminding himself to empty them before Michonne passed his pants to Carol. She would likely think that the rocks were just something he had stuck in his pockets because Hope or Zeb had offered them to him as presents and she would unknowingly scatter them out again.

"Night, man," Daryl said as he walked toward the motel. He heard Tyreese's offer of a goodnight behind him and mounted the stairs, figuring that Michonne and the kids would already be asleep or at least would be close to it, their mornings typically starting early enough that they didn't stay up much longer than the sun without a special occasion.

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When Tyreese got into the motel room, he was already peeling off his clothes. It was almost too cold to go without them, but with the blankets it was much nicer to sleep without them than it was to be wrapped up in the dirty clothes. No matter how much they were scrubbed, they still retained something of a smell…it was the smell that was simply the smell of their lives these days.

He smiled at his little family in the flickering lamplight.

Carol was out cold…they all were…but it looked like she'd been trying to come out of her clothes and simply never made it that far. Probably one or the other of the children had demanded some attention and she'd simply given up on herself for the moment…and then she'd fallen asleep.

Curled up next to her, her duck hugged between them, was Judith. On the other side, curled in the crook of her arm was Isaac.

And there was nowhere on the bed for Tyreese, but he was going to fix that problem.

He eased over and slid his hands under Judith, trying to scoop her up as gently as he could so that none of the trio had to fully wake. He wasn't, however, as steady as he'd hoped to be with lifting her and she woke slightly with something of a shock, flexing her fingers and grabbing for Carol.

"Mama…" Judith got out, her voice still heavy with sleep.

Tyreese shushed her and hugged her to his body like an oversized infant and she curled into him.

"Mama…" she repeated, fainter than before, her eyes still closed.

"Mama's not going anywhere," Tyreese said. "Jude's going to sleep in Jude's bed…and Daddy's going to sleep with Mama for once…"

Tyreese carried Judith over to the other bed that they'd cleaned up for her. He'd gone around and "altered" all of the extra beds in rooms with small children to drop them to the floor. He'd taken the frames apart on the motel beds and redone them so that instead of being a frame that held the mattress up, they served to be something like a metal fence that would keep anyone from rolling off of the beds, even if they really tried.

Once Judith was settled into her bed, Tyreese stood there for a moment with his hand flat on her back until he was sure that she was going to commit to sleep.

He fixed then the little bed that he'd made for Isaac…a bed made out of one of the oversized drawers he'd wrenched out of the dresser and padded with blankets…and he returned to the bed, carefully trying to free the baby from Carol's unconscious hug.

And that's when she woke with a start, threatening to wake the baby that otherwise wasn't going to wake.

"Shhh…" Tyreese hissed at her. "It's just me…I'm just moving the children…"

Carol looked disoriented, but quickly she seemed to be coming back into her senses.

"Where are you putting him?" She asked.

"In his crib," Tyreese responded, easing the baby down into the drawer.

"That's not a crib…" Carol said.

"It is now," Tyreese responded. "He's going to be fine. This is nicer…even safer…than his crib at home was."

Carol didn't seem sure about it, and that was clear by the time that Tyreese had stripped off his clothes and got into the bed. She remained on top of the cover next to him, still half dressed, watching both the children who were sleeping.

"Carol, they're fine," Tyreese said. "Get in here in bed…come under here and keep me company. We haven't had a lot of alone time in a while."

She somewhat reluctantly undressed and then took a moment to wander from the bed to the other bed and check on Judith before she examined Isaac's newly made crib. Apparently satisfied that both the children were safe and asleep, she came back to the bed and Tyreese moved over, lifting the cover for her to crawl in beside him. It was only then that she offered him the warm smile that he'd been waiting on.

He brushed his fingers across her face once she was settled in beside him and then leaned to kiss her, but he could tell when they broke apart that something was on her mind.

"What is it?" He asked.

"It's nothing," she offered.

He chuckled.

"It's something…and you're not going to be involved in this until I take care of whatever it is…so what is it?" Tyreese asked.

Carol sighed and reached a hand up, trailing her fingertip across his lips so that he kissed it and she smiled at him.

"Did you think about it? What I asked you to think about?" Carol asked.

Tyreese sighed this time.

"Ty…she's starting to understand, I think," Carol said. "And we promised that when she was old enough to understand we'd…explain things to her."

"We've explained it to her three times," Tyreese said. "She hasn't been able to understand yet…or she hasn't cared."

Carol sat up on her elbow, but Tyreese held her so that she couldn't escape from him entirely.

"She was younger then," Carol said. "She didn't understand, but she might now. We did promise that we'd tell her."

They were both quiet for a moment, and then finally Carol spoke again.

"Tyreese…I'm in the same position that you are. When we tell her…she's going to know that I'm nothing to her too. Neither one of us are. But it's not fair for us to just not tell her when she's got Rick and she's got Carl. She needs to know at least," Carol said.

Tyreese raised his eyebrows at her. This was one of those conversations that you had so many times it felt like you were simply replaying a recording over and over again.

"The difference is that we're telling her that she had a father…a real father…and she's got a brother…a real brother," Tyreese said. "There's no real mother around."

Carol frowned and nodded her head.

"It scares me too, Ty," Carol said. "But…maybe it isn't about replacing or forgetting…maybe it's about…letting Judith have more. Instead of thinking of it as one father or another, maybe it's a case of two fathers? Two brothers?"

Tyreese sighed and nodded his head slightly.

"We'll talk about it more in the morning," he said.

"You're just trying to avoid this again," Carol said.

He shook his head.

"No…I'm not. We'll talk about with Rick in the morning, if that's what you want," Tyreese said.

He rolled, pulling her along with him to slide her under his body, kissing her as she settled in to the rut that he'd made for her.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow…but tonight I don't want to worry about it anymore," Tyreese said. "I'm trying to spend just a little time with you before Isaac has us up. Everything else that's waited for years can wait for a few more hours."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Here we go, a shorter chapter here. Plenty more to come! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

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When Daryl got into the room and peeled his clothes off, they'd taken on the feeling of having grown to him, even though he hadn't been wearing them all that long. He almost felt like crying when he noticed that on the motel dresser there was water, a rag and towel, and soap for him. It wouldn't be hot, but it would get him clean.

But Michonne was usually good at thinking of things like that…things that he might like, like a good bath after a tiring run.

Daryl stripped out of his clothes and bathed while everyone else slept. He'd learned, and most of them had learned the same thing, to make a sponge bath every bit as effective these days as a day at the spa might have been once upon a time.

Hope and Zeb were both asleep in their little bed, so when he finished bathing, leaving the dirty water to be thrown out the next day, he leaned over them and checked on them, rearranging the blankets around Hope a little because she was bad about throwing her blankets off altogether. He eased down onto the other bed, then, and involuntarily groaned at the softness of the mattress after the past few nights he'd spent on hard ground.

"Do you want to talk tonight…or did you want to wait until morning," Michonne's voice asked, having taken on something of the growling quality she had when she'd been sleeping or very close to it.

"I was hopin' you were awake," Daryl said. "But I weren't gonna wake you up."

He slid into bed and rolled, facing her, and she emerged from under the blanket pile that she'd buried herself under.

"I was awake because I thought you'd want to talk," she said. "So go ahead…I'm listening."

Daryl smiled at her, laughing a little at the way that she did her eyes when she was trying to make them appear much less heavy than they were. She had a way of making them, for just a second, far wider than they ever had to be and then they would sink again with their heaviness and she'd repeat the action…two and sometimes three times…before her eyes seemed to realize that they were being commanded not to close for the time being.

"I don't really think I got anything to talk about now," Daryl admitted. "I thought…I mighta done something wrong…'cause I killed some men out there, and I killed a couple that was trying to surrender. I didn't take their surrender, 'Chonne. I just killed 'em. Well…Sadie killed one of 'em…but it was on my command and I'da done it if she couldn't."

"You wanted to make sure that it wasn't wrong that you killed those men," Michonne said, her voice wavering somewhere between a question and a statement. "You wanted me to tell you if I thought you did the right thing?"

Daryl chewed his lip and shrugged. Maybe that was what he wanted her to tell him…or maybe he just wanted to share it with her. Maybe it was just easier to carry the weight of that on his shoulders if he knew that she was carrying part of it.

Michonne shifted and sat up, perching on her elbows and Daryl leaned forward on instinct and kissed her because he couldn't resist…and suddenly he couldn't remember the last time he had kissed her like he meant it, even if it hadn't been so very long ago.

She turned the kiss somewhat playful and he felt her twisting her fingers in his hair. It wouldn't be long before she told him he needed a haircut and hauled him down for Carol to cut off all the excess that Michonne kept measured with her fingers.

When he pulled away, she was smiling softly at him, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly and her eyes having finally lost the heavy look from before.

"You did the right thing, Daryl," Michonne said. "We live in a world now where you did the only thing."

He nodded slightly at her. She would say that whether or not she knew the situation. She'd probably support him no matter what he told her he felt he'd had to do while he was out.

And yet, even though he believed that…he didn't believe it either. She would support him, but she usually approached even what he did with something of an analytical eye.

"Sadie's a little down," Michonne said. "She feels like she let you down, I guess…like she let Calista down."

Daryl chuckled to himself.

"Hell…she was the only one that done anything…once I got her loose," Daryl said. "Damn Glenn and Ty…I don't know when they were gonna step up and help me out."

Michonne laughed quietly about it too and nodded her head.

"We've come a long way," she said. "But we've all still got a long way to go. What about the place? What did you find?"

Daryl hummed.

Of course she'd want to know about the place that they'd found. They all would…though many of them would get their chance to see it soon enough.

"It's a nice place, 'Chonne," Daryl said. "One of these creeks…or little rivers…or whatever the hell they are…like the one out behind the motel?"

Michonne nodded her head. They were familiar with the waterways. They'd spent their whole trip here essentially following one after another.

"Well one of them runs right through the middle of it. Good farm land…needs to be cleared but that ain't nothin' but a thing. Ty says if we put our focus there we can likely get something in the ground this year and worry about building up around it once we got the food out of the way. I think he's got a good idea. It's kinda made up of three plots or so…you can tell it wasn't all the same land at one time. About five decent cabins in the area…one barn that needs a lotta work. Barn and one of the cabins is down in the valley where the water runs best…best land for farming. The other cabins are stuck up on these kinda rocky ridges. So what we figure is best is that we get us a simple fencing system up first thing. Everybody that can work on that does, you know?"

Michonne stared at him, taking it all in. She was listening to him like he was telling her the most fascinating story ever instead of like he was simply describing a track of land to her and what they hoped to do with it. When he paused for a moment, she nodded her head to push him into speaking again.

"So we get that fencing system up and we get what we can in the ground," Daryl said. "Start fixing them cabins up and we cram in where we gotta. From there we can build the fences stronger, build up housing that suits us…expand if we need to because there's more than enough land and timber. 'Chonne…we could build everything we wanted there…we can have what we wanted."

Michonne smiled.

"I knew we could," she said, raising her eyebrows. "I knew if we sent you out there? We'd find it. And I'm ready to see it!"

Daryl smiled.

"You gonna see it, don't you worry. We're gonna have to work out who's stayin' here and who's going…maybe take shifts. I don't wanna haul the kids out there until some fences are in place…and I don't wanna leave Carol here alone with the kids. That's what the hell happened out there this time. I knew we shouldn't have left Sadie and Calista alone…I wouldn'ta felt right doing that to no one with someone injured…" Daryl explained.

Michonne cut him off, putting her hand on the side of his face. He turned his face so that he could kiss the cool skin of her palm.

"We'll figure it out," Michonne said. "We always do. We'll figure this out too. And we won't take the kids until it's safe…and we won't leave anyone alone. You've got to stop beating yourself up about this trip, though, OK? Nothing happened. Everyone came back safe and sound and you got rid of some…Daryl…you got rid of some horrible people. No one is going to think badly of you for that. We're all going to thank you for keeping them out of our hair while we're trying to build our life."

Daryl nodded his head at her.

"It's gonna be a lot of work, but it's gonna be worth it," Daryl said. "Think about it, 'Chonne…we could figure out how to get power out there if we wanted it…they used to make electricity from water and we got that…don't even gotta go for runs. They used to use other things too."

"Solar panels…wind," Michonne said. "If it's something that we want, we can figure it out. For now, though, we've just got to get the basics. If we can make the place safe and livable? Then we'll have the rest of our lives to turn it into something amazing."

Daryl ran his hand over his face, pressing his thumbs into his eyes where they were burning.

"Come here," Michonne said. "Lay down and let me see if I can't help you figure out how to have some pretty sweet dreams."

Daryl chuckled.

"Already living like a king," he muttered settling into the bed with Michonne, sure that his dreams were going to easily turn toward everything they might do to make a place for their family that was even greater than some of the wildest things they'd all let themselves imagine in play.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Here we go, another chapter. This one is quite long, but I wanted to cover both parts.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Carol does realize we don't have to finish a full day's chores and lunch before lunchtime, doesn't she?" Lisette asked Michonne after Calista had dropped off another batch of soggy clothes for them to hang before they'd finished hanging out the ones that they already had.

Carol had been driving herself harder than usual since she'd gotten up and, as a result, it was driving everyone else to pick up their pace and keep it up in order to match her.

"She's just nervous," Michonne remarked, hanging clothes as quickly as she could in between flexing her fingers against the stiffness that threatened to set in any time they did laundry when it wasn't absolutely hot outside.

"What's she got to be nervous about?" Lisette asked.

"She and Tyreese are meeting with Rick and Carl after lunch to tell Judith about Rick being her father," Michonne said. "I guess…it's got her a little nervous."

"I knew that Judith wasn't Tyreese's," Lisette said, "but I don't know that I remember knowing she was Rick's. How did that work? Were they together?"

Michonne snorted.

"No…Judith isn't Carol's either. Carl? Rick's son? His mother passed when Judith was born," Michonne said. "And I can really see all sides of this and it's really a difficult situation."

She paused in her hanging out of the clothes and Lisette followed suit, apparently reading that she was about to discuss something for which she'd like to lower her voice enough not to risk being overheard. Lisette leaned into her in expectation of what was coming.

"When Lori, Rick's wife, died…Rick more or less…took leave of his senses," Michonne said. "For some time there was some bad blood between Rick and I…he did a lot to burn some bridges and to break some relationships that he had around here. One of those was with Judith. He basically handed her over to Carol and washed his hands of her. I know, now, that it was something that he really couldn't help and it's really something we have to thank Sadie for because she went a long way in bringing him back. So it's a bad situation for Rick because he…or at least I think he does…wants to be a good father, but how do you do that when Judith is closer to Daryl or even Beau than she is to Rick?"

Lisette's face was drawn up in concern and interest.

Michonne took a breath.

"On the other hand…the very first image I ever had of Carol was her holding Judith," Michonne said. "And…she's just one of those people that's a natural mother. You know? She's the one that you see with sixteen kids and you think that you'd go crazy and pull your hair out by now, but she's just hoping that number seventeen is healthy."

Lisette snorted and covered her mouth at the image, but she nodded her head, letting on that she understood what Michonne was getting at.

"So she's put all of this…all this time and all this love into raising Judith as her own…and to lose Judith would be like losing her child. The same is true of Ty. So it's a delicate balance and a messy situation all rolled into one," Michonne said. "Not to mention what it could be like for poor Jude."

Lisette frowned and nodded her head.

"I don't know how things will turn out," she offered, "but…I'd say that Judith's going to be fine. At the end of the day Tyreese and Carol are her parents…and they're going to support her through whatever she goes through, and that's all she'll really need."

"I know that too," Michonne said, leaning down and picking up another article of clothing to get started again before another chore came in their direction. "I guess I'm just sharing the nerves."

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They were sitting in the little office area of the motel room since it was the only place that offered any privacy besides their rooms. Carol had rehearsed her speech a dozen times, but she'd already forgotten it despite her efforts to be prepared.

She had calmed Tyreese down as best she could, fed Isaac and passed him off to Michonne for the duration of their conversation, and she'd snagged Judith's duck from the room in case the little girl were to actually understand what they were telling her today and get upset by it.

But it was hard to say how she wanted things to go.

Because she thought that maybe the way that she wanted things to go was too ideal. Maybe it was expecting too much of human nature or of the small child.

She wanted things to continue on as they were…exactly the same…except for the fact that Judith could maybe share a more intense bond with her brother and her biological father than she did.

And from her conversations with Rick, it seemed that's what he wanted as well, but he insisted that they give Judith the opportunity to choose if she'd rather "stay" with her and Tyreese or if she'd like to actually try "living" with him and Carl, and Sadie by extension when the woman stayed with them since she seemed to divide her time between them and keeping Mark company.

That was where Carol worried about how things might change. If Judith decided that this sounded like something she wanted to do, then it was easy for Carol's mind to go to extremes…and she actually felt her heart breaking in her chest at the thought of simply losing the bond that they had with the little girl as she moved on to, perhaps, something better.

But on the other hand, she knew that she had to keep it together, however it might turn out, because that was what would be best for Judith…and Judith needed to feel confident in whatever she chose.

And ironically enough, even if she chose to give this whole new lifestyle a try, it would be Carol and Tyreese that she looked to for that confidence to do so.

At first Judith seemed excited just to have them all in one room and to be the only child around that was going to receive any attention. Rick looked nervous about the whole thing, and in a way, that made Carol feel a little better. At least he wasn't coming at this in the manner that all of her worst thoughts and imaginings had given her.

Once they'd simply chatted with each other and with Judith, and Carol could tell that Judith was at ease, she pulled the little girl up into her lap so that she would pay attention to things and finally got the ball rolling to start the conversation, now entirely sure that she'd forgotten each and every word of her carefully planned speech.

"Jude…you know how…" she stopped and closed her eyes a moment, hoping she wasn't going to do this badly and make it more than it had to be for the girl to take it in, but it was evident that none of the three men in the room were going to offer any assistance at all, "you know how I'm your Mama and I'm Isaac's Mama…and you remember how Isaac was in my tummy when he was growing?"

Judith was smiling at Carol and that wasn't making it any easier to keep from looking like this was a perfectly normal conversation that anyone might have with their child.

"Well…when you were a little baby like Isaac, you had a different Mama," Carol said. "And you were in her tummy…but you remember how Muh had to go away?"

Judith's facial expression was changing now, but she remained silent, her hand sneaking up now to rub at Carol's face while she talked, making Carol aware of her own facial expression and trying to force it to be as light as it possibly could be.

Judith nodded at Carol, still looking at her now as though she were suspicious of what was going on. She squirmed on her lap a little and craned her head at Tyreese. He smiled at her and trailed his fingers across her back.

"Well…your Mama had to go away, so I took care of you for her…like Maggie takes care of Haralee and Lela. I became your new Mama," Carol said.

She glanced around looking for anything from Rick, Tyreese, or even Carl…any sign that she was doing this right. She did get something of a nod from Tyreese, but she didn't know if he really approved of her speech's content or if he was simply giving her the "support" that he could to keep going.

"And Rick? He's your Daddy, like Daryl is Hope's Daddy," Carol said. "And Carl? He's your brother…just like Hope and Zeb. So you have two Daddies and two Brothers…"

Carol sighed and reached behind her, producing the duck and thrusting it into Judith's arms to help soothe over a little of the expression that Judith was making, though she wasn't choosing to voice anything yet.

"Do you understand, sweetheart?" Carol asked.

Judith hugged the duck and leaned into Carol and Carol hugged her against her. She sighed and looked over the top of Judith's head at everyone else in the room, silently pleading for some assistance.

Judith sat up, though, and bumped Carol's chin in the process, clacking her teeth together.

"Isaac's my brother," Judith said, looking at Carol with enough concern that Carol almost laughed to think that maybe this was all she was bothered by.

Carol nodded her head.

"Yes, sweetheart. Isaac's your brother and I'm your Mama and Tyreese…he's your Daddy. But Rick's your Daddy too…your…" Carol stopped.

She couldn't bring herself to use "real" because it just didn't feel right. It felt like it was giving off the wrong idea…and Judith was far too young to understand "biological".

"Your first Daddy," Carol said. "And Carl's your first brother…you have two. And all of us love you very much."

Judith looked to Tyreese and he confirmed it with a dramatic nod of his head, his fingers going back to scratch lightly at the little girl's back.

Then she regarded Rick and Carl, hugging her duck to her and wiggling around on Carol's lap so that she could make the rotation that she needed to see them more clearly.

"I know it's confusing," Rick offered finally apparently seeing Carol's desperation for any assistance whatsoever, "but all that it means is that Carl and I love you very much, Judy…very, very much."

Carol saw when Rick flicked his eyes toward her and she offered him a smile, wrapping her arms loosely around the little girl who was sitting with her back to her chest.

"It means that we want a chance to do things with you…special things," Rick said. "Like Carl can teach you how to use a bow and arrow like he does…"

"Beau has a bow," Judith said. "He kills everything with his bow like pew pew…"

Carol wrapped her arms tighter around the girl to keep her from sliding off her legs with the theatrics that accompanied her description of Beau's shooting.

"He does," Rick said.

"I do too," Carl said quickly. "And I can teach you to be as good as Beau."

"And if you wanted to," Rick said, "you could stay with me and Carl…and Sadie sometimes stays with us. If you wanted to, you could stay with us sometimes. It would be like you came to visit us and you stayed for the night."

Judith shook her head at him. Carol hadn't suspected that would go over well. Judith tended not to care too much for even sleeping in her own room if she didn't feel like she was properly tucked in beforehand and knew exactly how to get to Carol and Tyreese should she desire them.

"Maybe…that's for later?" Carol asked, raising an eyebrow at Rick. "Maybe…we'll save sleeping over? And we'll just have play time? During the day?"

Rick looked a little disappointed and Carol understood the expression easily. She felt for him because she knew that he had changed…or he had returned to himself…or however she needed to explain his transformation. He wanted to be the father that he felt like he'd failed at being, and the want to make up for that only grew as he saw Judith growing more and more from a baby into a child…growing up without him.

"You like stories," Tyreese offered, his voice almost shocking Carol because he'd been so quiet. "They can tell you all kinds of stories about your…first Mama. Would you like that?"

Judith swung her head in his direction and he nodded at her, so she nodded in response.

"Jude," Carol said, tickling Judith's sides enough to make her squirm slightly and give her attention to her, "do you have any questions you want to ask any of us?"

Judith shook her head, but leaned back, rooting backward into Carol.

"Cat got your tongue?" Carol asked, tickling the girl's sides again. This time Judith laughed.

"Stop it, Mama," she mumbled.

Rick was the first to speak after that, getting to his feet.

"I tell you what," Rick said. "Would you like to come with me and Carl now? Just for a little while? We could all play together?"

Judith didn't respond and Carol pushed her to sit up a little.

"Would you like that?" Carol asked. "I bet that Carl could teach you how to do a cartwheel…you remember like Emma was doing? And you asked me if I could do one? I can't…but I but Carl can."

Carl smiled broadly and got up from his chair, almost bumping Rick out the way. He bent down to be closer to Judith who was clearly not done processing anything.

"Would you like that, Judy? I can teach you that before dinner…and then you can show Hope that you know how to do one and she doesn't," Carl said.

Judith seemed sold on that. She reached and took his head and slid off Carol's legs, making her hiss a little at the friction.

Rick muttered a thank you, and Carl whispered one too.

Carol smiled and nodded at both of them, not offering a verbal response and held her hand out to Judith.

"Give me the duck," Carol said. "You get him back at bedtime."

Judith stopped in her tracks and shook her head. Carol wagged her fingers at the girl.

"You take him out there and he's going to get dirty," Carol said. "And that means a bath for him which means you won't get him back for a whole night while he dries off."

Judith handed her the duck with something of a pout on her face, narrowing her eyes at her and Carol laughed and shook her head.

"I love you too," she responded, getting to her feet to follow them out with Tyreese walking behind her.

She thought that things had gone well. There would be many more questions, no doubt, but there would be time for that. She only hoped that the groundwork, at least, had been laid and laid well…and that it would be something good for Judith, and hopefully for them all, instead of being something negative.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter, slowly moving us along.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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They had almost reached the track of land with enough time to spare that Daryl was sure they could get a good look at it before dark, but there was no way they were going to pull a return trip before dark.

Michonne kept up with him, even overstepping him from time to time, her walk unrushed like she was enjoying a Sunday stroll that happened to be spotted at times with animated corpses, while Lisette lingered a good five feet behind them, also walking as though she were simply out stretching her legs.

Daryl was bringing them out to see the land while the run group was out on their first trip to find the things they'd need to get started. Their hope was to at least bring back a truck or two with the supplies they'd need to get rudimentary fences up. The rest they could build on slowly.

And a third group had stayed back at the motel to continue on with life there as usual and to make sure that the children were safe, essentially, from any harm.

Daryl's biggest problem, perhaps, was that he was torn between wanting to humor Michonne in her quest to see the plot as soon as possible, and the fact that they would both be leaving the children for the night. Carol and Tyreese offered to keep the children with them, which eased his concerns considerably, but he still hated that both of them were out. He preferred one of them to be with the children whenever possible, just in case of some possible fatality or something that would at least leave them with one original parent.

But Michonne had insisted it would be fine, and he believed it would be, so he'd agreed to take her out first…and Lisette had tagged along without being asked to act as "backup", though Daryl didn't know how much backup he and Michonne needed together for such a task.

As they reached the top of the hill, Daryl caught up with Michonne and caught her shoulder, halting her lazy steps forward while she waited for him to tell her where to go.

"There it is," Daryl said, pushing her a step or two farther to see what they'd seen.

She took in the landscape around her, scanning her eyes over everything that there was to offer.

"See…down there…that's the barn…an' the water you can see…and there's where we're gonna plant," Daryl explained. "That cabin and all these around here," he said pointing as he spoke, "we figure we can work with those until we can build onto them…or build more. First thing, though, is get up some barbed wire on the outside. Just something to slow the Walkers down…then we'll build the basic fences, nothing to fancy…from there we can build up the fence system once the crops are in the ground."

Michonne was quiet for a moment and Daryl stood back and let her take in the view of the place. It was a big thing, and he knew that, to wrap your mind around the hope that they had for the place in front of them.

When she finally spoke, though, he thought that her eyes looked a little damp.

"It's beautiful," Michonne said after a moment, her voice low. "It's beautiful…"

"Just like you hoped?" Daryl asked, stepping back beside her now that he thought she'd had her moment. He put his arm around her back and caught her waist, bumping her hip gently against his. "Just like we wanted?"

Michonne nodded her head.

"Maybe even better," she said. "Let's go down…I want to look at the barn…see the water."

Daryl nodded and turned back, surprised to find that Lisette was right behind them, smiling softly, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'd like to see it too," she said. "We could stand to fill our canteens."

"Gotta boil it," Daryl said. "Looks clean but we ain't takin' no chances on drinkin' Walker infested water."

"We've still got to move the water," Lisette commented.

And with her comment she was the one that stepped around Daryl and Michonne and started at a faster speed than before, down the rocky bit of a ridge and into the sprawling valley part of the land track.

Once they'd filled their canteens and Michonne and Lisette both had checked out the barn that would need a good deal of restoration, Daryl suggested that they settle into the cabin that was down in the valley area and see about boiling the water and cooking something to eat.

Michonne shook her head at him.

"I agree with building the fire here," she said. "It'll be easier to put out and there's not nearly the chance of it spreading…but we're not staying in this cabin."

Daryl laughed simply at her tone of voice.

"You got somethin' against this cabin, 'Chonne?" Daryl asked, turning to look at the building. It wasn't the nicest cabin he'd ever seen in his life, but all of these were pretty nice cabins. They'd obviously been vacation homes…and not vacation homes for people working minimum wage jobs.

She shook her head.

"I've got nothing against it, but I don't want that one," she said.

Daryl tried to make his expression as serious as he could, but he couldn't entirely hide his humor. The cabins were all a little different, perhaps, but they weren't that different. And it didn't really seem like that big of a deal to him which one they stayed in. This one just seemed the most obvious because it was…well…right there.

"You got somethin' you got your eye on?" Daryl asked, still somewhat amused.

Michonne looked a little amused at him now, so apparently he wasn't hiding his expression as well as he thought he was. She turned and gestured toward one that was up on the little rocky ridge, tucked slightly back into the wooded area that would eventually be at least somewhat cleared for their timber needs.

"That one," Michonne said. "I want to see it…I think that's the one I want."

"You know we don't have to pick where we're gonna live today, right?" Daryl asked.

Michonne nodded.

"I know we don't have to, but if I'm going to live there then I want to see it. I want to start…picturing that life in my mind," Michonne said. "And it's the biggest house out here…and we've got the biggest family with four adults and four children…and if we end up with more kids? We need the biggest house."

"We can build on…" Daryl offered.

Michonne nodded again.

"We can, but not right away," she said. "And when we were in the community we were right there…right in the thick of things. I like the idea of being just a little on the outside. I like that cabin, Daryl."

Daryl shrugged. He didn't care where they lived. Anywhere was fine with him and one cabin was as good as the other. If Michonne had thought that living in the barn was the best approach for them, he'd have lived in the barn.

It was clear, though, that she'd been thinking about this, probably since the first moment she'd scanned the new place, and she was set on how things needed to be.

"Right after dinner, then," Daryl said. "We'll head on up there…clear it out…get settled for bed."

Michonne smiled and turned, offering a nod and a quick facial expression to Lisette.

"Let's get the fires going then," Michonne said. "I'll cook…you two keep a watch out for Walkers."

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"I'm keeping watch first shift," Lisette announced. "I'll wake you two in a few hours."

"Fine," Daryl said, "Don't wait too long, though. We're headin' back tomorrow and you don't need to be dead on ya feet."

"Oh don't worry about that!" Lisette declared. "I won't forget to wake you so I can sleep…I'll just be trying to give you a fair amount of time."

Daryl smiled at the woman and Michonne ushered him back inside the cabin that she'd only got a quick look at while they were clearing the space.

It had only offered them one Walker….one Walker that was so dilaphidated he barely had the stamina to make it to the door to greet them like a dog or something. Now he was gone, though, outside…they'd burn Walker bodies once fences were up most likely.

"Master bedroom's down here, 'Chonne," Daryl said. "We're gonna take that one?"

Michonne narrowed her eyes as she examined the cabin at a glance.

It was a nice house as far as vacation homes went. It was something like she would have once had if she'd decided to purchase a mountain home for a relaxing getaway…not that she'd taken many of those in her life.

The downstairs of the cabin was very open, and the upstairs, if it could really be called that, was something of a "half-floor" that offered two bedrooms and a small bathroom caught up between the two.

"No…we're not taking the master bedroom," Michonne said. "We're going to take one of the upstairs rooms and Carol and Ty will take the other…the master bedroom we're going to turn into the nursery."

Daryl gave her a look of confusion, but he wasn't arguing with her.

"We've got four children," Michonne said. "If we end up with more? If something happens? They need more room than we do to sleep. It's not like we spend a lot of time in our rooms. They get the biggest room and it's the easiest to expand because if Ty is going to expand any of these cabins he's doing it on the ground floor."

Daryl nodded.

"Fair enough, 'Chonne," Daryl said. "Let's head up an' pick out which room you want.

Michonne smiled.

"That one over there," Michonne said, having decided as they were mounting the stairs. "I'm used to Carol and Tyreese being on that side of us…we might as well keep it that way."

Daryl laughed behind her.

"Good deal," he said. "Guess all that's settled.

When they got into the bedroom, examining the space and the furniture that it had to offer them…including a bed that Michonne thought was pretty nice, though not quite as nice as their old room had been, Daryl started to peel off his clothes and put down the swinging lamp that he'd been carrying in his hand.

"This what'cha want?" He asked.

Michonne looked around and nodded.

"This is what I want," she said.

Daryl went around and examined the blankets and sheets on the bed, pulling them all the way back to make sure that there weren't any bugs or animals living in there that needed to be killed. Michonne watched him during his inspection.

"We'll wash them when we get a chance," Michonne said. "We can collect all the linens up while we're working on fences…take them back to the motel, maybe trade them out for some clean stuff there for a while? Then Carol can wash all of these while we're getting the place set up."

"For tonight, though, these'll do just fine," Daryl said.

He settled into the bed with a groan and Michonne couldn't help but smile at him.

"You know what I love about you?" Michonne asked.

Daryl propped his head up on his arm and patted the bed beside him.

"Mmmm…there's so many things," he teased. "Don't seem fair to make you pick just one."

Michonne chuckled and finished coming out of the clothes she didn't intend to wear to bed.

"I love that…you make everything so…easy," Michonne said.

Daryl chuckled.

"Ain't too much easy these days, 'Chonne, or ain't you noticed?" Daryl responded, rooting in next to her as she got in the bed.

"No…things aren't easy," Michonne responded. "But…you make them feel like they are."


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Rick…need a little help here," Tyreese called out.

Rick scrambled toward him, leaving Jimmy and Junior to fend for themselves in loading up the truck they were responsible for. Rick grabbed the other side of the wire roll that Tyreese was trying to load himself without ending up with a half million puncture wounds for Carol to suture later and heaved it onto the truck, immediately moving to bungee cord the thing into place.

"You think we're done here?" Rick asked.

"We've got as much as this place is going to offer up," Tyreese said, his chest heaving a little from his exertion. He peeled his gloves off and mopped at his forehead, not really sure anymore what was sweat and what was blood from the snags the barbed wire had given him. "Still, it's a real good haul for a short job and it'll get the fences up that we need to start planting and moving. We can search out more later."

Rick nodded.

"Jimmy and Junior should be done soon…then we hit those houses we were going to hit, load up Glenn's truck…and I'd say we head back," Rick said.

Tyreese smiled and wiped it away as quickly as he realized that his thoughts were coming through on his face. Rick was coming back…slowly but surely, the man was becoming the man that he'd heard about. A man that had an opinion that didn't immediately make you want to break his front teeth.

"Good call," Tyreese said. "I'll drive this one…you go with Glenn. We'll stop when we get to that subdivision."

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Tyreese took one of the houses on his own and it had offered up no Walkers. He carried the sack he intended to fill thrown over his shoulder and one of the swinging lanterns in his hand as he eased through the space.

The houses were going to offer up plenty, or so it seemed. Enough that Glenn had found suitcases, laundry bags, anything that he could in the houses they'd already cleared for them to get more. Maybe they were greedy, but they had a large group to feed and care for and Tyreese, for one, had enough personal interest wrapped up in just his tiny family that he would have cleared every mouthful of food in whatever state they were in on his own, even taking out the hands of people if he had to, just to make sure that Carol got all she needed to eat to make Isaac as much milk as his little heart desired.

So their group moved through everything they came to like they were the last people on Earth and they took everything that they might have any use at all for.

While he was loading up the bag from the stock in the pantry of the house that almost made him giddy, Tyreese heard the sound of a board creaking nearby. He stopped what he was doing and listened. It creaked again.

It may have simply been the house settling…but when he heard it again, he wondered if there was a Walker trapped somewhere…or something more.

Tyreese followed the direction of the creak that he'd heard and eased through the house, pretty sure he knew where he might find his new Walker friend, or whatever kind of being it was that had stepped wrong and made the sound.

He heard the thudding footsteps of Rick as he came through the door to check on the progress of things and he held a finger up to his lips. Rick narrowed his eyes in the flickering light and made a move to draw a knife. Tyreese drew his own and held it in the other hand…just to be prepared.

The room was something like a storage room or a closet with a sliding door on a hinge. Tyreese approached it and slid the door back, cracking it enough to let him know that whatever was in there wasn't a Walker. He slid it back a little more and eased the lantern into the space so that a little of the light flowed into the closet.

The only thing, besides the kind of junk collection that filled many closets when people had too much and didn't know what to do with it besides pile it away, that he saw was the glimmer of the light in a pair of eyes that were peering at him…a pair of eyes that believed themselves to be hidden no doubt. And all he could see of the eyes were that they were dark enough that there was absolutely no distinction between the pupil and the iris in the poor light.

"If you're planning something, your cover's blown," Tyreese said. "We don't want any trouble…we didn't come looking for it. If you don't want any, come on out and make that clear."

The eyes remained focused on him a moment. Then the person moved a little and came more into the light. At first he thought it was maybe a boy, but as the body emerged, and he backed up to allow it, he realized that it was a woman with brunette hair cropped short around her chin. She stepped out, silent and bold, her eyes never leaving him as she stood to her full height, about the same as Carol's.

She was dirty, but remarkably pale otherwise, despite her almost black eyes and dark hair.

"You alone?" Rick asked.

The woman swallowed and shook her head slightly.

"Mel…come on out," the woman said.

She stepped to the side and an underfed woman who might have looked something like a blonde pixie got out of the closet beside her.

"Is that everyone or have you got more in the closet?" Rick asked.

The brunette laughed and Tyreese and Rick exchanged glances.

"I'm sorry," she said, covering her mouth. "I really am…it was just funny…and we're the only ones in the closet, though we're hardly in the closet anymore."

Tyreese glanced back at Rick.

"Are you the only ones?" Tyreese asked, now unsure what to do about the women. The blonde seemed to cower a little, but the brunette seemed more than willing to simply take whatever it was they had to offer her…no matter what kind of people they might be.

"In our group? No," the woman said. "I'm Alice…this is my partner, Melodye. Our group has three other people in it…if you haven't killed any of them yet."

"We're not here to kill anyone," Tyreese said.

"Funny," Alice said. "You're taking all our food…"

"Where's the rest of your group?" Tyreese asked.

"Next house," Alice responded. "Probably hiding. Really we're a little tired of being looted…attacked…we'd appreciate it if you'd just take whatever the hell you're going to take and leave us alone. No one wants to fight anymore…except maybe Dick…but he lives true to his name."

The blonde, at this point, looked terrified…she looked frightened enough that Tyreese wondered if she could move from the spot she was standing in. But the brunette looked like she was caught somewhere between completely unmoved and considering being pissed off.

"Take us to the rest of your group," Tyreese said. "We don't mean any harm…but we'd like to talk to you all."

Alice stared at him.

"Fine," she said. "You go first…in front. I'll tell you where to go."

He raised an eyebrow in question.

"I'm not turning my back on you," she said. "No chance."

He swallowed.

"Fair enough," he said. "Let's go."

He'd already figured they'd come back for whatever they were going to take, but he wanted to meet this group. He wanted to see if they were decent people. If they were, they could be assets to their group. If five people had amassed all this…and done so after being looted…they were five people who knew how to survive in this world.

When they reached the house that Alice directed them toward, Tyreese was aware that they'd drawn the silent attention of Jimmy and Junior, though he wasn't sure where Glenn was at the moment. The house they headed for was one that they hadn't searched yet.

When they stepped inside, Tyreese knew exactly why there were no Walkers in this house…this group had cleared them.

"Guys…come out!" Alice called out, her voice echoing somewhat in the house, even beyond the living room they stood in. "They want to talk…they say they want no trouble…"

"We mean it," Tyreese called out. "We don't want trouble."

In a matter of a few minutes, three men appeared from the hallway, though Tyreese couldn't be sure what their cover had been.

He scanned his eyes over all three of them.

"I'm Tyreese…this is Rick," he said, gesturing toward Rick who had put away his knife but kept his hand on the handle. "The boys…just out the door there are Junior and Jimmy. We have another man, Glenn, who's out there too. We've met Alice and…"

He dropped off. He'd forgotten the blonde woman's name. The cowering pixie who wasn't cowering as much at the moment.

"Melodye…" she offered in a soft voice.

One of the men, an older black man, stepped forward first and offered Tyreese a hand. He slipped his knife into its holster as a sign of good will and shook the man's hand.

"Malachi," the man said. "That's Dick," he said, gesturing to a white man that looked to be probably comparable in age to him…though it was hard to tell with the way that the life they led aged them all.

"I'm Brent," the other man said…a man of about thirty with glasses resting on his nose that were almost humorous because they bore the huge ball of tape around the nose that was popular in comic situations. Brent stepped forward and offered Tyreese a hand, which he shook, but he noticed that Dick made no such move and wondered momentarily about what Alice had said about him.

"It's just you five?" Tyreese asked, not sure who to look at anymore but choosing Malachi.

Malachi nodded.

"Now it is," he said. "We were thirty two at one time, but that was a long time ago."

Tyreese glanced at Rick and then back at Malachi.

"This area that rough?" He asked.

Malachi scratched at his face.

"Depends on the day," he said. "We move around a lot. We have to move around a lot. The smaller our group gets, the weaker we are. We lost three not too long ago."

"Always women," Alice commented. "Nice big groups of men…like you guys…come through and we lose people."

"We're not after anything like that," Tyreese assured her. "We have a group…women and children included. We're a peaceful group, as long as we're around peaceful people…"

"You the leader?" Dick asked.

"We don't have a leader," Tyreese said. "We work together. Everyone's important. I'm the one speaking right now, though."

"Do you take people in?" Malachi asked.

Tyreese looked back at Rick. Rick stared hard at him, but then he offered a gentle nod of the head.

The people seemed to be fine. Tyreese already had his eye on Dick, and he intended to fully heed the accidental warning of Alice, but other than that he didn't feel any initial threat. It was likely that this was just the core of what had once been a larger group…these were the survivors. And they would be at last a little hard for that.

"We do," Tyreese said. "But everyone contributes. Everyone pulls their own weight. And everyone behaves themselves with everyone else. We don't tolerate abuse of any kind."

"You want to join us," Rick offered from where he was standing, "then you bring everything you've got to contribute. But you better make a decision soon. We're moving out shortly. We like to beat the sun."

"We're gonna need to talk about it," Dick said. "I'm the leader of this group…I got us this far…"

"What's left of us," Alice muttered. Tyreese could tell that there might be some conflict between the two because he caught how the man looked at her.

"We'll give you five minutes," Tyreese said. "We'll step outside. If you want to come, you come…if you don't, we'll take what we've loaded up, nothing more, and we'll leave."

He turned and left the house with Rick, practically pushing Jimmy and Junior out the door and closing the front door behind them.

"What do you think?" Rick asked when they were outside, keeping his voice almost at a whisper.

"I think if they come, we watch out for Dick," Tyreese said. "I really think the others are just fine…they've made it this far and they have to know the area. They've got enough supplies for months, maybe even a year."

Rick nodded his head.

"You agree?" Tyreese asked.

"I do," Rick said. "On all counts. We can take them in, but everyone locks their doors…just until we know."

"That was never a question," Tyreese said.

A few moments later, Dick stepped out on the porch.

"We want to see your group," he said. "We'll go with you, but ain't promising to stay. We can leave if we want, right? I'm sure you gonna say that's fine…you not wanting no trouble and all."

Tyreese nodded his head.

"You want to leave? You go. We aren't taking prisoners," Tyreese said.

When the others started out the door behind Dick, gathering around apparently to find out what Tyreese had said, he directed his words to all of them.

"Gather up everything you've got," he said. "Find cars or trucks…whatever. We're leaving in fifteen minutes with everything we can possibly carry."


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. We're going to have a couple here where we're kind of getting to know our newcomers. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"This is a big one!" Hope declared, bringing Michonne one of the rocks out of the pile that she and Judith had gathered together.

Michonne accepted it and examined it.

"That is a big one," she said. "In fact…I think if Daddy makes an arrowhead out of this one, he could hunt elephants!"

Hope, satisfied with the praise alone, agreed with Michonne and took the rock, running back to the pile. It was only Judith, who was busy organizing the rocks in straight lines by size, that gave Michonne a look that reminded her quietly that they didn't know what elephants were…and Michonne wasn't certain that they'd ever know about them beyond stories that were about as easy to relate to as stories about dinosaurs had always been.

From not too far away, Michonne heard the sputtering sounds of Isaac gearing up to demand a meal, the noise growing in intensity each second that Carol dawdled in getting around to providing what he wanted.

"Shhh!" Judith hissed suddenly, putting her hand over Hope's mouth to stop Hope's mumbled discussion with herself over how happy she was with her rocks.

Hope looked at Michonne with wide eyes over Judith's hand and Michonne almost laughed.

"What is it, Jude? Let go of her mouth," Michonne said.

Judith moved her hand, examined it, and then wiped it on her clothes. Apparently Hope had taken the opportunity to lick her friend…it wasn't sanitary by any means, but it wasn't an uncommon occurrence among any of the children.

"What do you hear?" Michonne asked.

She couldn't hear anything over Isaac losing his mind in the distance.

"I hear my Daddy!" Jude said, her eyes getting big.

And she bolted toward the entrance to the motel complex. Michonne straightened up from her stooped position and looked around. What Judith had heard was the approaching of trucks…and SUVs…and a car…they'd gone all out, apparently. But technically the girl had been right since Tyreese would be among the menagerie returning from the run.

"Come on, Hope…let's go see what they got," Michonne said, offering a hand to Hope who looked like she wasn't sure she wanted to abandon her rock pile. "You can come back to the rocks," Michonne assured her. "I promise…no one's going to steal them."

Hope wiped her hands on her pants, a move that she got from Judith…and Judith got from Carol…and then she slipped her hand into Michonne's to walk with her toward the newly arrived group who would likely want food, water for bathing, and a nap.

Michonne was surprised, though, as she saw the people spilling out of the vehicles to find that their group had all returned safely, for which she was grateful, but it appeared that they'd picked up a few more people in addition to all the supplies they'd brought back.

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Daryl didn't expect to run into any of the newcomers for some time. Everyone who had been on the run, one of the most successful they'd had in some time, had retired for some much needed rest, the newcomers included. And they'd done it so quickly that he'd barely had time to process the arrival of so many new faces, less likely to learn their names well and start to feel comfortable with anyone. In fact, he really had no feelings on any of them at the moment.

But, while following Zeb , who was toddling now although he appeared to be perpetually drunk, around the yard area on whatever baby adventure he was on, he almost literally ran into one of the new men who was standing near a half rotted picnic table smoking a cigarette.

"You need anything?" Daryl asked, not knowing exactly what else he might say. It had been some time since they'd had any new additions to their group and the last additions had offered up two great assets and one incident that would forever live in infamy.

The man shook his head.

"Sorry," Daryl offered. "What was ya name again?"

"Dick," the man said. His voice was rough and gravelly and he was clearly older than Daryl by a good ten years…maybe more. Daryl knew the type immediately, though. Before this all had happened, Dick had been a heavy smoker…probably a heavier drinker…and he hadn't led an easy life at any point. It was evident all over him.

"That your real name?" Daryl asked.

Dick nodded his head.

"Richard," he said. "But nobody ain't called me Richard in so long it sounds odd. You're…"

"Daryl," Daryl offered. "An' the lil' guy's Zeb."

"Yours?" Dick asked.

"One of 'em," Daryl said. "Got me a girl too."

Dick sucked his teeth.

"You got a big group here," he said. "Lots of numbers…but not a decent amount of muscle. Women and kids and boys playin' at bein' men. That's what the hell you got. You've got bait for some of the groups around these parts…hardly any soldiers."

Daryl chuckled and walked over to facilitate the conversation with the man, keeping an eye on Zeb to make sure that the boy didn't get into anything while he ran around chasing the imaginary animals or whatever he was after.

"You ain't met the women in this group," Daryl said. "Most of 'em are worth more than a man when it comes to a fight. You fuck with one of them kids you're looking down your nose at and you'll really see hell…reckon soldiers ain't come at nobody with that much bloodthirst."

Dick sucked his teeth.

"I've seen 'em come…an' I've seen 'em go," Dick said. "The women an' the kids…they don't last."

"You brought two women with you," Daryl said. "You mean to tell me they can't fight?"

Dick laughed ironically.

"Fight what? The damn corpses…they do alright. Alice better than Mel. Mel's made it this long because Alice hasn't let her go. But Alice is still a woman. Got too damn many moods and too many opinions. Too mouthy about 'em too if you ask me," Dick said.

Daryl hummed at the man.

Dick was rough around the edges…and he was no doubt an asshole and a half…but for some reason, Daryl thought he might end up liking the man. He thought…if they could file off some of the sharp edges…Dick might turn out OK.

"Thing is," Daryl said, "around here we like those opinions…and we deal with the moods. Some of the women in this group are quicker and better at makin' decisions than the men are. Some of the best damn minds we got. Our group…it's got a lotta…character, you know? But that's what the hell's got us so far. Everyone knows what the hell they know and everyone understand that don't nobody know everything…you learned that yet?"

He realized it was a direct challenge, and it was one that he hoped ended well for him, but Daryl recognized in Dick the same kind of people that he'd known before all of this. He was a man that would respect you for standing up to him and he would never respect you at all if you belly upped.

Dick was either going to rule, or he was going to be put in his place. And although Daryl didn't consider himself the official leader of this group…they all handled things together…he wasn't going to accept anyone coming in and thinking that they could just take over. Around here the only acceptable mark on your report card was "plays well with others".

"Who's in charge here?" Dick asked. "Is it you? Is it Tyreese? You can't have a group that ain't got no leader…people need someone they can look up to."

Daryl nodded his head.

"Ain't nobody here more important than anybody else," Daryl challenged. "I reckon I get looked at a good deal…but I know how to look at any damn body I need to talk to if we gotta get things done. So who's in charge? Depends on what you need."

"You got rules around here? Laws? How do you even operate?" Dick asked.

He seemed to be relaxing now. He was responding the fact that Daryl had shown him that he wasn't going to cower in front of him.

Daryl nodded his head.

"Rules are pretty simple…recognize that you're just as important as anyone else. We're all family here…so you fight for your home…for your family. Get the hell over your shit or someone's gonna get you over it. We don't fight amongst ourselves because that won't get us nowhere," Daryl said. "I don't know what else, but if you break 'em, someone'll let you know."

Daryl stood there for a moment, taking in Dick for all that he was worth and considering what he might be dealing with.

"Oh," Daryl said. "And…we don't judge each other. Don't matter what color you are…how tall you are…how old you are…if you can read or you can't even say the alphabet…don't matter who you was or where you come from…don't matter who you sleep with or if everything you got works or it don't."

Dick chuckled and scratched vigorously at his beard…a beard that was regularly shaved, according to its length, but was lacking a few days' of grooming.

"I suppose you thought I was going to say something?" Dick asked, tipping his head slightly. "About the fact half the kids around here are…a little mixed up? Or did you think I was gonna say somethin' about the fact you got at least a couple people around here probably more work to keep around than they're worth because they can't tow the line?"

"Weren't sure what you were gonna say," Daryl challenged again. "Just wanted to make sure you knew that you should probably think about it a couple of times before you say it. First off, it's ignorant, and that ain't a good look for you…and even more than that, it doesn't go a long way in making you friends. You follow me?"

Daryl broke off a moment.

"Zeb!" He barked loud enough to make the boy stop what he was doing and look at him, wide eyed. "Don't eat that!"

Zeb let go of the bug that he had in his hand and then held his hands up to Daryl in something that appeared to be a shrug of pretended innocence.

Daryl turned his attention back to Dick who was watching Zeb for a moment before he turned his attention back to Daryl.

Dick smiled.

"See…I weren't gonna say none of that no way," Dick said. "I got enough wits about me to keep my opinions to myself…just like I ain't said a damn thing about havin' a pair of rug munchers running along with me all this time. But a man's free to think what he wants…or is that against your rules too?"

Daryl shook his head.

"No…you free to think whatever you want," he said. "Just so long as it don't affect the way you act, you see? Nobody knows anybody's thoughts unless they act on 'em or let 'em slip out their mouths. Think what you want…but act like you know better."

He paused again.

"Unless…you want trouble?" He finished.

Dick chuckled and shook his head.

"No…I don't want no trouble," he said. "That sounds about as fair a deal as I'm likely to get."

He offered a hand to Daryl and Daryl took it, shaking it.

"You need somethin'," Daryl said. "Food…water…soap…stuff like that…Carol'll get it. Rest up. In a couple of days we start some pretty heavy work. You're gonna wanta be fresh for it."

He walked over and bent down, wiping Zeb's hands with his shirt tail and apologizing quietly to the roly poly bug that his son had squished to an untimely death, and then he scooped him up and headed out in search of anyone who might need a hand.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: So here we go, a little more getting to know our newcomers. Coming up we'll be progressing a little with our new homestead! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"So…what are we doing here? Anything I can do to help?" Alice asked, coming up to where several of them were shuffling around seed boxes for Carol to go through and organize them for planting.

At the moment she was sitting off to the side, feeding Isaac in the very small patch of shade provided by a somewhat scrawny tree that had probably never been a very good size and was likely planted for those "charming touches" that people tried to put around motels that no one was likely to stay at otherwise.

"Really there's not too much to do," Michonne responded. "We're just organizing and waiting on Carol to tell us what to do. This is her territory."

"What is it?" Alice asked, leaning over to look at the boxes and putting a hand on Michonne's shoulder for support as naturally as though they'd known each other for some time and not for a matter of hours.

"Seeds," Lisette offered. "They're seeds that we're going to use to get our food growing as soon as we can move to where we're building."

"Wow!" Alice mused. "You're really set up here, aren't you? You people are hardcore…I like it."

"What about your group?" Michonne asked. "What's your story?"

"Can I sit? Am I…allowed…to sit?" Alice asked, looking around like she wasn't sure who was in charge…who gave the permission out for sitting on the ground.

"Sit," Carol called out. "You don't need permission to sit…or anything else really."

Alice nodded her head and sat down cross legged on the ground, wiggling around as though the hard dirt might get more comfortable with movement.

"I don't have much of a story," Alice said. "I…uh…well…I've been travelling. My partner Melodye and I worked in the same University hospital in North Carolina. We went north with a bunch of people who said that they were…I don't know…shipping people to safety in New York. So we went, but we never made it. Doesn't take too long to figure out that safety's kind of a thing of the past…you know?"

"And the others in your group?" Lisette asked. "Have you been together long?"

Alice shrugged.

"It's hard to give times," she answered. "Honestly I can't keep one day straight from the next…but we've been together a while. And I think Dick and Malachi have travelled together from the start. Brent's kinda new to our group. He came in with about six or seven others."

"Where are they?" Michonne asked.

"Dead," Alice said bluntly. "Or…taken. I'm guessing that they're about the same damn thing, though, you know?"

"What did you do?" Lisette asked. "Before all of this…what was your job?"

"Oooh…business talk," Alice said. "I was a surgeon. I was a cardiovascular surgeon…and honestly? I think that's the only reason that Dick has tried to keep me around so long. He thinks I'm useful."

"You don't sound like you're too fond of him," Michonne remarked.

Alice seemed warm enough and pretty open, but when she mentioned her travelling companion the sound of rolling eyes came into her voice.

"He's not bad," Alice said. "Really…he's not that bad. He's just very practical sometimes. And that's a good thing. He's pretty good at figuring things out, but he's so damn hard headed. He's one of those people that seems to think that any kind of suggestion that you give is just stupid if he didn't think of it first. And he's kind of a prick about things. You know the kind? He makes all these comments like you're not smart enough to hear them…especially not if you're a woman."

Michonne laughed.

"He'll either get over that or be miserable around here," she said. "We've all got opinions, and we all speak our minds."

"Your group's a nice size," Alice said.

"And growing every day," Carol said, coming over and fixing Isaac back in his spot on the pallet she'd made him where he was trying to become an airplane from what they all could tell. "I think Libby's pregnant."

Michonne was surprised…but she wasn't surprised.

"Yeah?" She asked. "Why do you say that?"

"I just think she is," Carol said. "She's putting on weight…but you know…in specific regions. She hasn't said anything about it, though, and she hasn't complained about anything. I don't even know if she knows."

"She'll know soon enough," Michonne commented. "But we'll keep an eye on her…I can talk to her, or you can."

Carol chuckled.

"I guess that answers our question about if she and Beau have figured out how everything works, right?" Carol asked.

"Are they…is there something wrong with them?" Alice asked. "I mean…that they wouldn't figure it out?'

"No," Michonne said, shaking her head and pushing the box toward Carol that she was trying to reach from her newly adopted position. "It's just that both of them are a little uneducated. We could all see them being the kind that never really got taught about the…"

"Birds and the bees," Lisette threw in with a laugh.

"Most of it's just our harmless teasing, though," Michonne assured Alice. "We kind of give each other and everyone else a hard time around here. It's nothing personal and no one takes it that way. But if Libby's pregnant, that's great. The two of them are doing a good job with the boys they're raising…and our community is going to be up and running before long. It's a good thing."

"Repopulate the world," Alice said somewhat quietly. "I get it. All of us are going to croak one day…someone has to inherit the Earth, right? And I'm sure as shit not going to be adding to the population."

Michonne laughed and nodded her head.

"That's kind of our MO around here," Michonne said. "At first we fought it. We were terrified of it. Then? It just made sense. If we're going to leave behind two or three…why not more? They're going to need each other when there's none of us left."

"It's a good idea," Alice said. "I guess the hardest part is keeping them safe, but then it's hard to keep anyone safe."

"We're getting better at it, though," Carol offered. "And…there's nowhere to go but up, right? We're going to make our place as safe as it can be."

"Like a fort, huh?" Alice asked. "It could be nice to stay in the same place for a while."

"Safer than a fort," Michonne said. "We had a safe place before, and we're taking everything we know and everything we learned there to do it bigger and better. We don't intend to move anymore."

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"So your group's been hit hard, huh?" Tyreese asked Malachi. He'd searched him out specifically to pick his brain about what they might expect, feeling that he'd get better answers out of the man than he might out of the others in the group.

Now they were walking around the fences of the motel complex, Tyreese stabbing the Walkers that were dumb enough to try to get through the fences as they went.

"Yes and no," Malachi responded. "Our group hasn't always made the best decisions, but you'll never tell Dick that."

"Why do you say that?" Tyreese questioned.

"Dick's a man of action," Malachi said. "He's not too much a man of strategy. Both are necessary. Too much of one leaves you running straight into fire while too much of the other leaves you standing still until the fire climbs up your leg."

Tyreese chuckled.

"I think we've had our share of both," he admitted. "And we've gotten burned both ways, but we're learning."

"Dick doesn't always learn," Malachi said.

"But he was your leader?" Tyreese asked.

"Well…being the leader isn't exactly a desirable position," Malachi said, scratching vigorous at his arm. "If you do well, everyone loves you. The moment you mess up, though, and you're guilty of all the sins of the world. Dick wanted that position and there wasn't anyone willing to fight him to take it away from him."

Tyreese nodded his head.

That was fair enough. That was one reason their group operated the way that it did.

Rick had been something of a supreme leader once and he'd cracked like an egg on the sidewalk. Tyreese wasn't sure if it had been because of the leadership role or because of the things that happened surrounding his wife, but the truth remained that Rick hadn't been able to handle it.

And there were other examples, like the Governor, of situations where leadership may have started out well for someone, but it just went south for any number of reasons.

It was something none of them wanted…none of them wanted to carry the full weight of responsibility on their shoulders. The way they operated now, they succeeded and they failed together. They lived and they learned together. They did all that they could to avoid pointing fingers of responsibility at each other for the things that happened.

"What about the trouble with other groups?" Tyreese asked.

"There's always trouble with other groups," Malachi said with a sigh. "In the beginning they were larger groups. They were groups more like this one and it was something like a never ending turf war. Then it seemed that as people began to dwindle, we always ran into smaller groups…especially when we were part of a really large group. Now they're usually very small, but they're getting more and more cold…more and more ruthless."

"We've run into a few bad apples ourselves," Tyreese said. "Not too many since we left Georgia, though. We were on the road for about four months, I guess. We left right after my son was born. On the way up here we started to believe there weren't any people left but ourselves."

"Oh there are people left," Malachi said with a laugh. "It seems like mostly men…either that or the women are good at hiding. Of course, if they're smart, they do hide. Unless they can fight they're at a risk of getting…mistreated…by some of the groups. Not too long ago we lost three women that were with our group. They were gone so fast that none of us so much as knew what happened. We were scavenging and they were gone. We only knew it was even men because we've never seen women that could wear the boots that left the tracks. We followed the tracks, but they ran out eventually…just seemed to vanish in the woods."

Tyreese cleared his throat.

"I wonder if it was the group that we ran into," he said. "They tried to take two of our own…we left them alone and we caught them in the process of hauling Sadie and Calista away. Daryl killed them all."

"Probably the best thing that could happen to them," Malachi said.

"I guess we'll just keep an eye out," Tyreese said. "That's about all we can do is be prepared in case someone decides to come knocking."

Malachi nodded.

"A group this size?" He responded. "They'd have to have a lot of guts to pick on a group this size. I haven't seen a group over eight or so people in a good while…not even in passing. We were ten for a while and it felt like we were a nation. No…they won't mess with a group this size…they're more into picking them off. The coward's way."

Tyreese hummed his understanding.

"That just means we don't give them anyone to pick off," he replied. "If they want to come for our group, they'll have to come for all of us."


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter.**

**This is just one to move things a little and start putting pieces in place for world building. I'll admit right off that I'm not thrilled with it, but it is what it is. More coming soon.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"Alice, you and Libby are on child duty," Michonne said.

"Wait, what? What does that mean?" Alice asked. "Child duty?"

"It means you stay here with Libby and the children and you keep them inside. If you need one of us, come up there after us and we'll find who you're looking for, but don't bring them out. We don't know how long it's going to take to get the fences up and we don't need to take any chances," Michonne responded. "Everyone should be good except for Isaac and Carol's feeding him now so you should get at least a few hours before he's showing out."

"OK...that's...I mean that's cool but I'm not really awesome with kids...I mean I like them and all but..." Alice sputtered. "I just think I'd be way better at the whole fence thing than I would be with the kids..."

"It's alright, the kids are very agreeable and Libby's amazing with them," Michonne assured her.

"They ain't no problem," Libby said. "Everybody gets 'em sometimes…ain't much you gotta do…just feed 'em an' change the ones can't go in the buckets. Shoudn't be no problem."

Michonne smiled, satisfied that Libby was on board with her plan, even if the girl didn't know why she specifically had been chosen to sit the day's tasks out and take care of the little ones.

Alice didn't look entirely convinced yet, though. She was holding Lela and looking at the smiling child as though she were a ticking time bomb instead of an infant.

Daryl caught Michonne by the arm and pulled her to the side.

"'Chonne, that woman don't wanna stay with the kids," he said, his voice just a hair above a whisper. "Put her out workin' the fences and put Carol with the kids. Carol don't even need Libby to make do and that puts two on the fences instead of just one that's gotta come in from time to time to feed her kid anyway."

Michonne shook her head at Daryl.

"I've got my reasons for doing it this way," Michonne responded. "Can I talk to you outside?"

Daryl nodded and followed her outside.

Most of the group was milling around outside and talking about what they were about to start and some were walking around looking at the new patch of land that would eventually become as familiar to them as anywhere else ever had.

Michonne kept her voice low so that no one would overhear their discussion.

"I need you to just go with me on this," Michonne said. "We think Libby might be pregnant, and until we can figure out if she is or isn't, we'd rather try to keep her out of the line of fire...and, Daryl, that woman is a surgeon. We don't need to let her get her hands torn up with barbed wire...and we need to keep her safe!"

"We don't know for sure she's even a good surgeon," Daryl said.

"Even if she's the worst surgeon in the world," Michonne responded, "she's still got five hundred times the medical training than six of us put together. We need to look out for that. Look at it this way…if Hope's appendix were to rupture, would you rather that woman…a surgeon…do an operation on her with the skills she has, or would you rather it be me and Carol armed with a pocket knife and our good intentions?"

Daryl seemed to think about it for a minute and then nodded, not offering a question about any of the information that he'd been given.

For now they simply needed to get people working. There would be time later for further discussions, and whether he had processed everything that Michonne had said or simply understood her reasoning on the most basic level, it didn't matter. He was behind her for the day on this.

"Fine 'Chonne let's just get movin', we burnin' daylight," he replied.

They gathered everyone together and Tyreese explained to everyone how he saw the process working to get them from start to finish in the least amount of time possible. They couldn't make the motel again before dark, even if they left now, and they needed the wire in place to keep them safe through the night if they were going to stay there.

"OK, everyone," Michonne announced. "Remember…watch your back and your partner's back at all times. If you kill a Walker, drag it outside the barbed wire. If you run into more Walkers than you can handle, keep them at bay and call for back up. Everyone keep your weapons close. String your wire outside the trees that Glenn and Ty marked with paint."

"And watch your hands!" Tyreese commanded. "If you get tangled in the wire, don't fight it. Call for help and stay put. Bottom rows are going about to your knees…about to here…second rows about to chest height. Some of us will come around and string the high wires for you."

"We need to move," Michonne said. "Everyone move as quickly and as safely as you can, but these wires need to go up by nightfall. Everyone's lives depend on it, so let's hustle."

"Water's down here," Carol instructed quickly. "There won't be any fresh before nightfall, though, so be sparing. Everyone needs to drink out of those canteens."

And with that they broke, everyone heading in their directions…the places were already set up in stations of some sort where several people had come over and spread out wire the night before. There was more than enough to go around and they had already doled out nails and tools.

Everyone would work in pairs, and Michonne headed off to her starting point with Carol who would partner with her for the day.

"You're not mad that I pulled you out to work instead of staying with the kids, are you?" Michonne asked.

"No," Carol said. "It feels good to get to work some outside of the houses…and I know why you put Libby and Alice in there. It's a good call…as long as they don't kill each other."

Michonne snorted at the thought. Both of them had the potential to be somewhat abrasive, but in slightly different ways. She didn't imagine that they would kill each other, but she was pretty sure that a full day together would rival anything that had ever been on television for entertainment value.

When she and Carol reached the first tree where they were going to start, Carol immediately started tacking the starting pieces of wire into place.

"I'm pulling it and you're nailing it?" Michonne asked, moving to start stretching the wire.

Carol laughed.

"I think that's the dirtiest thing you've ever said to me…" she teased.

Michonne shook her head.

"Get your ass down to the next tree," she muttered with a laugh.

"Yes ma'am," Carol called as she got the second nail into place and darted off a piece to take care of a Walker that hadn't noticed them yet before making a beeline for the next marked tree that Michonne was making her way toward with the wire she was pulling tight.

As soon as Michonne got the wire in place across the trunk, Carol nailed another of the u-nails into place and Michonne darted back for the second wire while Carol continued to secure the first piece she'd brought.

Michonne didn't want to be too optimistic, too fast, but she was already certain that they were going to have no problem achieving their goal if everyone else was working even half as fast as the two of them were working.

By nightfall they could rest easy knowing that they had fences in place…and Michonne sped up in her actions, pushing Carol along as she went, just from the excitement of the moment and the prospect of being that much closer to their goal.

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Daryl and Tyreese were the last two to finish with the wires. In the pitch black of the night they walked the entire perimeter of their chosen plots with swinging lanterns, examining the wires and tacking them down more in places where they needed it.

It wasn't perfect, and it certainly wouldn't stop a herd that was too large, but it was what they wanted.

"You think it's gonna hold?" Daryl asked.

"Oh yeah," Tyreese responded. "It'll hold…we gotta get a gate up, though…I'd say off that ridge over there. Somewhere we can make a road for ourselves that's still half hidden. I'd say it's a good idea tomorrow or so to run two extra lines all the way around, but this'll hold for now."

Daryl didn't know quite why the laugh bubbled up in his chest, but it almost felt like one of those laughs that bubbles out of your very soul. It wasn't brought on by humor, rather it was brought on by the absolute thrill of the moment when he realized that his group…his group that Dick had worked with but turned his nose up at in general…had managed to fence in this thing all in one day. No one got more than a few cuts, they all killed probably over thirty Walkers total, and they had their land fenced off.

Rudimentary fences…the beginning only…but it was something. They were home.

"Let's go get some damn food!" Daryl announced. "I don't know about y'all…but I aim to celebrate a little tonight…so I'ma apologize ahead a' time if you don't sleep too damn good…'cross the hall an' all!"

Tyreese chuckled.

"Who said anything about sleeping? We'll sleep in tomorrow…" he commented.

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"The first fences are up, 'Chonne," Daryl said, stepping over the pallet on the floor that they'd made for Zeb and he was sleeping soundly, one thumb in his mouth and the other hand thrown back behind his head in abandon. The girls were fine downstairs. They were more than capable of letting someone know if they needed something but Zeb could stay with them until they had a crib for him instead of the pallets. "We got the first ones up…we'll make 'em better tomorrow…and we'll start getting ready to plant tomorrow."

"Mmmm…it's all coming together!" Michonne agreed. "And I love our house…"

Daryl crawled into his place in the bed. He didn't remember the bed being nearly as comfortable as it felt right this moment, but fatigue always had a way of making things softer…just the same as hunger made anything taste far better.

He kissed Michonne and wrapped his arms around her, sliding his fingers under her body and lifting her just enough to bring her as close to him as was humanly possible in the position.

Michonne wrestled free of the grip a little, laughing lightly into his mouth before she pulled away and caught his lip with her teeth, tugging it gently before returning to kissing him while she pushed him away.

"You trying to get the hell away from me or something?" Daryl growled at her, his practice with Zeb in the room being much different than what he'd promised in joking with Tyreese…but then…Isaac's presence had probably put a damper on Tyreese's plans too.

"Mmm mmmm…." Michonne mumbled, getting up and gaining her knees in the bed. "I just…want to do this my way."

"What way is that?" Daryl asked.

But she was already wrestling him around enough that he knew what it was. She was going to be on top…she was in that kind of mood.

And he was never one to fight her when she was in that kind of mood, because it always meant that she was into things and she was going to make it well worth his while.

Michonne straddled him and scratched her short nails down his chest, sending a shiver through his body.

"My way..." Michonne repeated, dropping her head down and licking his neck, earning another shiver for her efforts. She nibbled his ear lobe. "The right way…"

Daryl gave her a satisfied growl for her efforts.

"Your way seems like the best damn way to me right now," Daryl responded. "You the queen around here 'Chonne…"

Michonne eased herself down on him and he hissed at her, one hand going to hold a hip while the other searched out a breast while he lost himself in doing things her way…letting her run the show for the night.

And when their bodies had finally taken all they could take for one night, especially a night after so much work had already stripped them of their energy, Daryl was more than satisfied with the fact that Michonne, instead of rolling to her side of the bed, decided to lie across his body, warm and soft and sweet, and sleep there, lulled by nothing more than the rise and fall of his chest, his arms around her, hugging her closer to him than she would even naturally be.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. **

**This one's not super entertaining. It's just another of the "nuts and bolts" chapters to get us going.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"We gotta be smart about this," Daryl declared. "This place ain't as safe as the motel. Until we get the second fences in place, the kids need to stay at the motel."

"Isaac can't be without Carol," Tyreese said.

"She stays with the kids…somebody's gotta," Daryl said with a laugh. "Weren't gonna just leave them there alone."

"But who stays with her?" Tyreese asked. "We're not leaving Carol all the way at the motel, alone, for days on end."

Daryl made a low pitched growl.

They were caught in a conundrum. They needed to get a lot of work done for the new place to really be somewhere safe for them to remain long term. The more of them that were there and the more work they did, the more change they had of drawing in Walkers and other groups in the area…and therefore the less safe their little space was.

There was strength in numbers, though, and they needed as many as they could to get all the work that needed to be done finished in the shortest amount of time.

But the motel was too far away for them to constantly pass back and forth between the two spaces and they hadn't found anything safe between the two locations.

Michonne massaged at her temples with her fingertips. She didn't have solutions for this any more than anyone else did. Everywhere they turned, they were taking chances. The problem was deciding which chances they were most willing to take and which risks they could take and still sleep at night.

"We don't need everyone here until the second row of fences are up," Daryl said. "At least the basics of them…we can reinforce them with time."

"So how long is that going to take?" Rick asked.

Daryl shrugged.

"We're talkin' about needing lumber…lumber I'm guessin' we gotta cut 'cause everything you find's gonna be half rotted…cement…Ty, how long?" Daryl responded.

"Too damn long," Dick spoke up. "And too damn much work when you could do this a whole lot better by usin' what the hell's already out there. Use your damn heads!"

"You think you got a better idea?" Daryl asked. "Let us in on it…everybody gets a say 'round here…if you got somethin' ta say."

"Get some heavy equipment," Dick said, lighting a cigarette he dug out of his pocket. "Use it to knock down some iron fencin' that's already in place…bring it here. Cement that shit into place an' it's a hundred times stronger'n wood…ain't gonna be quick an' it ain't gonna be easy, but it's a helluva lot better than what you proposin' doin' with the wood."

Daryl gave Michonne a look and she nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea," she said. "But can it be done? With the people and the resources we have…is it feasible?"

Dick looked around.

"Just as damn likely as anything else," he said. "Gotta be blow torches around if you need smaller pieces…how'd you people even make it this far?"

"We do alright I reckon," Daryl muttered, but Michonne could tell that he was beating himself up a little that none of them had thought of that already.

"No…that's a really good idea," Tyreese said. "It's a lot stronger than the wood…and it won't need so much reinforcement. As soon as the cement hardens we'll have a pretty strong level of defense from the outside."

"So…Carol tells us what to do about the crops," Mark said, "and we organize three groups. One takes her and the kids back to the motel complex, one plants, and one gets the fences in order?"

"You take that woman and all them kids back to that motel alone or damn near alone?" Dick offered again. "Might as well let me cut her damn throat now an' save yourself the time."

Daryl sighed.

"That's what I've been saying for like an hour," Rachel offered. "I think that we're safer together. Maybe we go back, get everything we've got…we just try to hold here. I don't want to be at the motel alone."

"She's right," Carol said. "We could take a small group…take the wagons with us…we could load up everything there. We could clean the place out and be back here in a couple of days. Whoever's going to gather the fences…or the bars…or whatever you're going to get…they could go out while we're loading up everything from the motel. We don't have to take the children even. They could stay here with whoever's planting. Emma and Haralee could keep them inside the whole time."

"And Isaac?" Tyreese asked. "You're going to take him out there?"

"Or I can stay here," Carol said. "I can handle the planting if that's better. I don't have to be the one to clean the motel out. I think that anyone is capable of doing that."

"But you're the one that knows about the crops," Mark said. "You stay here and get that in the ground. That's priority."

"Fine," Daryl said. "We still gotta divide into three groups. We gotta have one group here planting, one group travellin' to the motel for our supplies...and whoever's going out for the fences."

"I'll go after the fences," Glenn offered. "I'll take Dick…Ty…whoever else. We need eyes to find it and muscle to move it."

"Mechanical ability and we don't need nearly as much muscle," Daryl offered. "I'll get in on that."

"I'll head up the group going back to the motel," MIchonne offered. "We need bodies, but I don't think we need that much muscle…we'll make it alright. I think Sadie should stay here…act as protection."

Michonne waved at Sadie to make sure that the woman was looking at her.

"Carl…can you sign for her?" Michonne asked quickly.

"You stay here," Carl said. "Protect everyone?"

"Alone?!" Sadie said quickly and probably much more loudly than she'd ever have intended.

Michonne shook her head.

"Not alone," she said. "We'll leave some people with you."

Sadie shrugged and nodded.

"OK…I'll do it," she said. "Whatever you need."

"That's the attitude we like," Daryl said. "I don't think too many people need ta be here…too much an' you'll draw attention. Keep the kids inside…Sadie…Libby…Alice…Carol…that's enough, ain't it? You got Emma, Haralee…Jacob…they can all plant too."

"Do you feel secure with that?" Michonne asked, directing her words at Carol.

Carol looked around a moment and then shrugged.

"I guess," she said. "If there's anything that we can't handle…I mean…I don't suppose we would have been able to handle it with one more person."

"Fine…so we move everything here," Daryl said. "We get as much planted as we can as fast as we can…when the motel group gets back they can plant until we get ready for the fences to go up…"

"I can go with Michonne," Lisette offered. "Michonne, Rachel, me…Calista…can we pull it off? Can you drive a team?"

Lisette directed her words toward Michonne.

"I can manage," Michonne said. "We'll take two wagons. Rachel drove one part of the way up here…I can manage the other. We'll make good time. One night there and we can have most everything back here."

"There are always cars," Calista said. "Even if we don't keep them around here…we can use them to move things if we need them."

"Might not be a bad idea to keep them around," Malachi offered.

"Gas shortages kept us from using cars," Maggie said. "It's too hard to find the fuel. The wagons have endless fuel as long as we keep up with the livestock. Once we're settled here we're planning on trying to find more of that too."

Malachi shook his head.

"I didn't mean for travel," he offered. "I meant for building an extra layer of protection outside of the fences. If you were to surround the area outside of all the fences with cars it would be an obstacle that the corpses aren't likely to get around. Even better if you had tractor trailers."

"I can drive semis," Alice offered.

Everyone looked at her and she shrugged.

"What? My dad was a trucker," she said. "I used to drive with him for summer jobs…"

Michonne almost laughed at Daryl's facial expression at the woman who now looked apologetic and a little embarrassed.

"We're getting way ahead of ourselves," he said, waving at her. "Let's…just get the fences we know we're puttin' up first. Then we can have meetings about what we gonna do next when we ain't gotta all cram into the barn like this."

"Ok…tomorrow we move out," Michonne said. "We head for the motel…you go after the fences…Carol gets everyone growing food. Are we missing anything?"

Everyone shared looks, but no one spoke up with anything that they obviously felt like they needed to add.

"Anyone?" Daryl asked, checking once more.

There were a few heads that shook, but nothing more. Daryl sighed and nodded his head.

"Alright then," he said. "Hot food tonight…we can keep watch. Who's walking perimeters for clearing tonight?"

"I am," Carl offered.

"I've got it too," Junior offered.

Daryl nodded.

"Everybody else…rest up…tomorrow we all gotta put in a full day. Don't need no one dragging," Daryl said.

As the group broke to go about what they had left to do and to get food prepared, Michonne walked up behind Daryl and squeezed his shoulder muscles in her hands.

"You feel good about this?" She asked.

Daryl chewed his lip and nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "Just need everyone to be safe…you know? Especially y'all. You run into trouble, you get outta there, OK? We lose supplies…we can get more…just don't lose nobody if it can be avoided."

Michonne hummed at him.

"Same goes for you," she said. "We're getting in and out as quickly as we can. I don't want everyone to be gone from here for too long. The four we're leaving in charge are all capable…but I don't like leaving the kids alone that long."

"They gonna be alright here," Daryl said. "That's about the only thing I'm sure of…ain't nobody gettin' the kids unless they kill Carol, Sadie, an' Libby all. And I don't know much about that Alice chick yet…but if they get through all three of them they gonna kill her too. They can…wall themselves up in a house and wait if it's Walkers…and if it's people? I just don't think they're gonna think it's worth working through that much potential crazy just to what…just to kill a buncha crazy women and a mess of kids? They could just take what the hell they wanted."

Michonne laughed at the thought. She nodded her head.

"I didn't think of that," she said. "You might be right. I think…they'd be pretty likely to decide it just isn't worth it…so that leaves your group, because mine is going to be just fine."

"Don't get cocky, 'Chonne," Daryl teased.

She smiled.

"I'm just truthful…not cocky," she said. "I'm going to help with the meal…take Zeb and Hope for a quick little walk? They're not likely to see the outside for a few days."

Daryl nodded and leaned in to kiss her before he headed off in the direction of the house where the kids were essentially being "held" during the day and Michonne headed over to where Carol was working on getting a fire started to find out how she could be of service.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Hi everyone! Here we go, another little chapter here. It's a pretty light one. There will be this one and two others (so that we get a short moment with each "group") that looks at our little groups while they're split up and then they'll be coming back together. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"I really think all the linens we can carry, and then the rest? We can come back for it if we need it," Michonne said in between chewing the bites of food out of the can that she was eating from.

She and the other women had taken one room for themselves, one that no one had stayed in before so that Tyreese hadn't modified the beds in any way, and they were essentially having a slumber party at the motel.

They'd loaded up everything that belonged to the group already and the next day they'd go through more of what the motel itself had to offer. Short of some food, cleaning supplies, and clearing out all the shampoos and soaps that the place had to offer, Michonne didn't imagine that there was too much they were going to want or need.

"Linens," Lisette echoed around a full mouth. "Yes…everything."

It was true. It seemed like those were the types of things they never got enough of. They always needed blankets, sheets, pillow cases, towels, cloth…for anything that could be imagined. There were a million ways they could come up with to use them…and they weren't always for the most traditional manners imaginable.

"What do you think about the new guy," Rachel asked after a moment. "Dick? You think he's…OK?"

Michonne realized that she was directing the question at anyone who wanted to field it, but everyone else was eating and it was evident that they thought she was going to be the one to field it.

"I think he's fine," she admitted. "I think he's ignorant…crass…probably an asshole, but I think he's pretty much harmless. And as far as planning goes? Strategy? He could be a good thing to have around. His head seems to be on alright in most areas."

Calista sighed loudly.

"Why does he have to be a jerk, though? The others…they seem pretty nice," Calista said. "I don't understand why he's got to be a jerk."

"Calista…Dick doesn't have to be a jerk," Michonne offered, "he just chooses to be one…and he was probably one long before any of this ever came to pass…"

A hum of agreement rang in from both Rachel and Lisette.

Lisette crawled off of the bed to put her now empty can on the dresser in the motel room and when Rachel asked her to take hers, she came back to the bed and collected them all up.

"You know who isn't a jerk?" Rachel asked. "Malachi…"

"No…Malachi isn't a jerk," Michonne offered. "And…he's single…" she teased.

"Matchmaker?" Lisette teased, crawling back onto the bed.

"Hey…some people need a little push," Michonne offered. "How do you think Ty and Carol finally got over the distance between them?"

"I don't know," Lisette said. "Could it have been you?"

Michonne smiled. She'd told Lisette the short version of how she'd planted it in Tyreese's mind to start the game with Carol…a game that he'd ultimately discovered he enjoyed a great deal.

"I'm just saying," Michonne offered, "that if it's something anyone might be interested in, you might want to start discussing it before you end up in some kind of bidding war."

Lisette and Rachel both laughed at the thought of it and the laugh was contagious enough to spread to Calista and Michonne both.

"I'm done…" Rachel offered. "After Rick…and then Seth…I'm really just not interested anymore. I just want things to be quiet and I'll be happy."

"I forgot that you were with Rick," Lisette offered.

"What happened?" Calista asked, shifting around on the bed with some interest.

Michonne couldn't help but smile at how nice and normal it seemed at the moment. They were nothing more, in this moment, than four women on some kind of girls' weekend…ignoring entirely the fact they'd eaten meals that consisted entirely of vegetables out of cans and they were chatting by the light of some oil lamps while just outside the motel complex flesh eating corpses milled around hoping they'd step out foolishly and without protection.

"Nothing really happened," Rachel said. "That was the problem all along. Rick wasn't…OK for a while. And he was nice for…"

Rachel cast a glance at Lisette.

"Things," she finished. "But I didn't feel strongly enough about Rick to want to…I don't know…help him through what he was going through. It wasn't worth that to me."

"But it was worth it to Sadie?" Calista asked.

Rachel shrugged and looked at Michonne like she expected help explaining her confusing and complicated piece of the relationship puzzle that had taken place for a bit.

"I think that the Rick that Rachel was with and the Rick that Sadie's with are very different people," Michonne offered. "And I think…that maybe it has to do with how Rick's changed and it has to do with what each person expected of the other. Is that fair to say, Rachel?"

Rachel nodded.

"I think that's pretty accurate. Sadie and Rick are a lot different than it was when I was with Rick…a lot different," Rachel said. "It feels like all of that was a million years ago."

"Another lifetime," Lisette offered. And even though she wouldn't know anything about the relationship or about their lives before the community, she would probably easily understand the feeling they all shared about living multiple lives.

"But you and Sadie get along, right?" Calista asked. "I mean…I've never seen you not like each other, even though she's with Rick."

Rachel laughed.

"Sadie didn't do me dirty," Rachel offered, "if that's what you're worried about. Rick and I were pretty much over long before we ever said we were…and she put him through the wringer a little after that."

"So you really think you're done with relationships now?" Lisette asked.

Rachel shrugged.

"I loved Seth," she said. "I really did…and I just don't want to go through that again. I don't want to go through what a relationship means these days…not a real relationship. Because it means really, really caring for someone…it just becomes so intense because you know, constantly, that there's a chance that they're going to be gone. It's intense and it's stressful all at the same time."

Michonne sighed at that.

"It is intense," she said. "But it's good too. I mean…when I think back to my first husband, I think about all the things we fought about. We fought about everything…and I mean everything. Now? Daryl and I don't fight because it just isn't worth it. No one fights because it isn't worth it. It isn't worth bickering for days over something stupid when there's a very real chance that person might not be there for you to make up with later."

"Well, it's just something that I don't want to do again," Rachel said.

"You might feel differently with time," Lisette said. "I thought I was done…but I have to admit that since I met up with your group, I've been jealous a few times."

She broke off and laughed.

"And if I didn't like Carol so much, I might have made some kind of move for Tyreese myself," Lisette offered. "He's about my type."

"Mama!" Calista scoffed.

Everyone laughed.

"Mmmm," Michonne hummed. "Good luck getting in there…but Malachi…he's a good looking man…and Rachel's pulling her dibs on him already."

Lisette gave Michonne a look that Michonne knew well by now. It was Lisette's "naughty" facial expression and it was one that she hardly even realized she was making.

She was considering it. She might deny it, but she was considering it.

Michonne simply smiled at her in response.

"We'll see," she said with something of a breathy sigh behind the words. "I'm not going to attack him…that's not proper…and that's not the lesson I want to teach my daughter."

With the last words she raised an eyebrow and leaned toward Calista who snickered at her.

"I didn't pursue Jimmy," Calista offered. "He's the one that's come after me…and he's the one that offers to take me on walks and asks to sit with me."

"I'm not even going to play innocent," Michonne said. "I was the one that went after Daryl and I haven't regretted it for more than a few minutes here and there when I want to ring his neck. But if that's how you want to play…there are ways to get Malachi to realize he's interested."

Lisette swatted at Michonne.

"You mean if he's interested," Lisette said.

"If you're interested, he's interested," Michonne said. "Trust me…he might not know it yet, but he's interested."

Lisette sucked her teeth and shook her head at Michonne, but Michonne could see that there was something there.

"We have work to do," Lisette said. "And here we are…gossiping like…like we're all Calista's age instead of full grown women."

"Keeps us young," Michonne said.

She was tired, though, and she knew that it was getting late without having anything to mark the time beyond her own internal clock. Lisette was right. This was fun…it was a good deal of fun…but in the end they needed to be up early to have everything loaded in one days' time so that they could get back to the community and back to their lives…the very lives they were joking about now.

And Michonne didn't want to delay their return at all because she was already missing everyone back there…Daryl and her babies especially.

"You are right, though," Michonne said with a sigh. "We need to get to sleep. We've got a lot of work that has to be done tomorrow…no exceptions. Let's get our beauty rest…maybe we'll finish early and have a little more time to gossip shamelessly tomorrow night."

Everyone said their goodnights and Lisette and Calista moved to the other bed to settle down and sleep while Rachel and Michonne bedded down in the bed that they'd all been wallowing around on.

Michonne closed her eyes to sleep, hoping that everyone else's days were going as well as and were as uneventful as theirs were.


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Here we go, another chapter.**

**This one is an Alice/Carol chapter that's mostly character development. Our next chapter takes us out to Daryl's group and how they're faring in their work to get the supplies for the next layer of fences.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

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"How long have you been with this group?" Alice asked as she sat, her head leaned back against the outside wall of the cabin.

"Since the beginning," Carol responded, keeping her voice low. "How long have you been with the others?"

"Mel and I've been together since we were sixteen, and we were best friends before that. But...the others? I don't know, not that long...long enough though. They're alright."

"That's good to know," Carol said. "We've run into our share of people we really couldn't say that about."

Alice laughed.

"Who the hell hasn't?" She responded.

They sat in silence for a few moments. The night was a calm one and Carol had decided to take the night watch. The children were all asleep, finally, though she still held Isaac in her arms, and Sadie was asleep on the floor of the cabin porch, deciding that she'd stay in close proximity in case they needed her in a hurry. Libby was inside sleeping with the kids.

"You know," Carol said after a moment, "you don't have to stay out here. I'll be fine with Sadie out here. I can wake her if I need anything. You should rest."

Alice chuckled.

"Rest? It's hard to remember the last time I really did that," she said. "No…I'm fine. Besides…she's sleeping like the dead and if you wake her she might not be on guard quickly enough."

Carol hummed.

"Sadie's pretty quick," she responded. "She seems to have an on and off button…Libby does too. Both can go from zero to ready about as fast as it takes me to figure out what's even going on…"

"So why are you out here while they sleep?" Alice asked.

"They'll take over later," Carol assured her. "And I'd rather them be well rested…I'll spend most of the day directing people and taking care of the kids. I'm not worth as much if it comes down to a fight."

Alice made an odd sort of snort in the darkness.

"Who was it?" Alice asked.

"Who was who," Carol asked, shifting around.

"Whoever it was that did a damn fine job of crushing your self-esteem into the dirt?" Alice asked. "Tyreese? No…it wasn't him. Husband before him? Or does it go back even farther? Father?"

Carol swallowed, but she didn't respond, hoping that the brunette would drop her line of questioning given enough time.

"You should rest," Carol said, changing the subject after what felt to her like a safe amount of silence to assume that the woman would know she didn't want to speak about it any farther. "I'm going to need you tomorrow…I'll need you to work. I want Libby to take it easy some…and tomorrow I'm going to have to talk to her…make sure she knows what's going on with her…that she even knows if she's pregnant or not…"

"I'll rest," Alice responded, "when I'm ready. Why do you have to be the one to talk to her? About her situation?"

Carol sighed.

"Do you want to do it?" Carol asked.

"I could…but a lot of what I have to say comes out clinical…I can't help it. It's a character flaw, really," Alice responded.

Carol hummed.

"That's why I do it," Carol responded. "Well…that and you know…Libby looks at me at something of a mother. She expects me to…help her with things with the kids. It only seems natural that I would help her with this if she needs it. I don't know how much her own mother might have told her."

"But you're not Libby's mother," Alice said.

"No, I'm not," Carol responded. "But…she looks at me that way. Beau does too…Jimmy, Junior…they're all grown up but not completely. They like having that woman there…the warm hugs…the little taking care of them moments. And I like giving it to them."

"And that's another thing about you," Alice said.

She shifted around in the darkness and Carol wasn't sure at all what she was doing until the flame flickered on a lighter.

"You care if I smoke?" Alice asked.

Carol laughed.

"No…I wouldn't think a heart surgeon would smoke, though," Carol said.

"You'd be surprised," Alice commented. "Gave the shit up for a long time…figure now it doesn't matter all that much, right?"

Carol didn't suppose it mattered all that much. Statistically speaking you probably weren't going to die because you smoked these days. It could happen, but it wasn't highly likely…and it might be a preferable way to go given your options.

"How'd you get voted everyone's surrogate mother?" Alice asked.

"I like…mothering, I guess," Carol said. "We've all got our roles around here. Mine is just…more domestic. I guess that I always wanted…children. I would have been happy being the old woman who lived in the shoe…and if I were younger and married to Ty? I might have…but that's not going to happen now…so I just mother whoever wants it and needs it. What did you call it? A character flaw?"

Alice hummed in consideration of what Carol had said.

"The other thing about you that I want to know, while I have you as a captive audience and you can't just run off into the lake of kids around here, is why you pretend that you're so much older than you are," Alice commented.

"Do I?" Carol responded.

Alice laughed lightly.

"How old are you?" Alice asked.

"You're the one that pretended to know how old I am," Carol commented.

"You're not as old as you pretend to be," Alice commented. "The thing about being a doctor is that you're also required to be something of an amateur detective…and Mel…she was a psychiatrist…so I spent a lot of time learning from her on how you read people. When you're a doctor…people lie to you, you know? They forget that you're their doctor and not their priest…you're not their mother. The little lies can be the difference between life and death. So you learn to…figure it out yourself."

"And I'm a liar?" Carol asked ironically.

"Not a liar," Alice responded. "That's harsh…but you're an actress maybe. I just want to know why…because I know you're not as old as you act. You're what? Prematurely grey…but you're about the same age as Sadie…"

Carol cleared her throat.

"Sadie is about five months older than me," Carol said. "She told me her birthday once."

"So why the charade?" Alice asked.

"It's not a charade," Carol responded. "It's letting people think what they want to think…what they're comfortable with thinking. Before Beau and Libby were together, he wanted to be in a relationship with Sadie. On the other hand, what Beau finds most desirable about me is that I remind him of his mother. It's just…letting people think what they want."

"But it's an attitude thing too," Alice said. "Sadie…when I met her, you know what I thought?"

"What?" Carol asked.

Alice shifted around.

"You're sure she's totally deaf? Like she's not going to be listening to this shit?" Alice asked, somewhat apprehensive.

"She can't hear anything," Carol assured her. "Nothing at all."

"I thought she was younger than you…maybe younger than Michonne. She carries herself with confidence…maybe a little too much confidence. I don't think she's nearly as secure in herself as she pretends to be…but she knows that perception is about what you put out there. She carries herself as a sexual woman…vibrant…opinionated…and she comes across, at least at first glance, as young and capable and bold…"

Carol didn't respond to the comment in any way.

"And Michonne…she's your best friend," Alice said. "She knows you? I mean really knows you?"

Carol hummed.

"She does," Carol said. "She probably knows more than I've ever said. Michonne reads people well."

"She does," Alice said. "You can tell…and you can tell she knows it. You can tell that she's got…an unwavering confidence in herself. She believes in herself. She knows she can handle this world…and if she doesn't believe it? She presents herself in such a way to make it…real."

Carol sighed.

"Do you have a point?" She asked, letting just enough bite seep into her voice to let the brunette know that she was tired of talking about this.

Alice giggled.

"My point is that you present yourself the way that you see yourself…and that's kind of sad sometimes," Alice said.

"And how do I present myself?" Carol asked.

"Well if you don't know, I'm not going to tell you," Alice remarked. "But I will tell you that…you're wrong…on a lot of counts. And I'm not the only one that sees it…because if you weren't wrong…I don't think Tyreese would be as dedicated to you as he is…and I don't think Michonne would so openly respect you the way she does…"

"How old are you?" Carol asked.

"Mmmm…." Alice hummed. "I don't know…how old do you think I am?"

"That's why I asked," Carol responded. "Because I don't know."

Alice laughed again.

"I'm probably older than you think I am, but I'm younger than the paranoia that comment induces will make you think I am," Alice said. "That's all I'll say if you won't answer me directly."

Carol sucked her teeth at the woman.

"If you're so intuitive…and you know people so well, then how did you end up travelling so long with Dick?" Carol asked. "He doesn't seem to me to be someone that would necessarily…agree with your lifestyle?"

Alice hummed at her again.

"Dick…Dick's an OK kinda guy," Alice said. "And don't confuse his ignorance with being complicated. Dick's pretty straightforward. Stick to your own kind…he's racist. Men and women should only be together, ever…he's homophobic. Christians are the only…whatever…right people? Even though he doesn't necessarily practice what he preaches…Dick isn't complicated."

"So why stick around him all this time?" Carol asked.

"Ignorance isn't anything new, is it?" Alice asked. "Besides…he's ignorant, but he's not violent about it or anything. He's just going to turn his nose up at you and sometimes he's going to run off at the mouth…but then he's going to shut up about it and move on. He's not a bad guy, really. He'll judge the hell out of you…and he'll do it right out loud…but he'll save your ass too."

"Has he saved yours?" Carol asked.

"Mmm hmmm," Alice responded. "More times than I'd like to admit in a short amount of time. So what if he doesn't like that Mel and I are together? Hell…my parents didn't like it either. I don't like that he has the opinions he has…but that doesn't make either one of us right or wrong, really. He thinks what he thinks, and he thinks a lot of it, but I've never seen him treat anyone badly just because he didn't like something silly about them."

"And Malachi? And Brent?" Carol asked.

"Malachi is a very smart man," Alice responded. "He's…I don't know. He's just really smart. And maybe that's another reason to trust Dick. Malachi trusts him. He might not always agree with him, but he trusts him…even when he makes mistakes, and things don't always go our way, he backs him up. Brent? Brent's a sweetheart…super smart…not that able bodied, but neither is Mel sometimes. That's what's so great about having people who have your back."

Carol hummed in agreement.

"That's the best thing about our group," Carol said. "We might not have anything else…but we've got each other's backs every step of the way."

"I noticed," Alice said. "It's nice…it's kind of like the Waltons…just with corpses and all."

Carol laughed in response to that.

"I think I'm going to take a nap," Alice said. "Unless you want me to stay?"

"No…I'm fine," Carol responded. "Could you take Isaac in for me?"

"Sure thing," Alice said. "One way or another you guys are going to make me comfortable with kids, right?"

"That's the idea," Carol responded, gently passing her son to the woman so that she could take him inside. "He's got a little box…"

"The drawer you mean?" Alice asked.

"That's it," Carol responded. "Just…so he doesn't get hurt…put him in there?"

"Fine…yell if you need help…I can hear pretty well and I'm not a heavy sleeper," Alice responded.

"It's a quiet night," Carol remarked. "I imagine we'll be lucky enough to see it stay that way."


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter. **

**I'm on vacation, so updates are slow and more spread out. Sorry about that.**

**I hope that you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"This is gonna take a helluva long time," Daryl said in direct response to Glenn's question on the matter of how long they might expect it to be before they saw anything that looked like real progress on their fence plan.

Maybe they'd let themselves get a little swept up in the excitement of the moment, or maybe their confidence in each other and in the abilities of their group had gotten their egos a little over inflated, but the second set of fences was going to prove that things weren't always going to trot along at the speed of light.

First there had been the issue of equipment, because they needed a good deal of it to pull off the plan they messily had put in place. The equipment meant that they needed fuel, thus adding another layer of work to their growing project, and then there were the logistics.

The iron they would use had to be cut into manageable chunks that had to be torn down and loaded to take back to where it would be put back up by strong backs they hoped would hold out. They'd already gathered together cement and what tools they could find, but would likely need more before it was all said and done.

The best thing working in their favor at the moment was that Malachi and Dick seemed to know their way around the area well and that had cut down on the time spent searching.

"So how long are we going to stay out?" Glenn asked.

Daryl hated to admit that he was almost disappointed in everything...himself and everything else...because in his mind he had thought that they would return from this short trip with everything they needed and somehow, magically perhaps, they would get the fences up with the same speed that they'd gotten the barbed wire barriers up.

But realistically none of it was going to happen that way. This would be something that they'd have to work for a little at a time.

"We got enough to do a decent piece," Daryl commented. "Reckon we'll head back tomorrow with what we got. Park everything up on that far ridge where Ty's wantin' to put the gates, and make sure everything's alright. We get these in place, we can always come back for more."

Glenn looked around him as though they hadn't already carefully examined the area.

They'd seen evidence of other people in the area, but from the looks of it, it had been some time since they'd moved through. There weren't any fresh traces, from what they could tell, of camps or even nomadic groups.

"Yeah," Glenn agreed with a sigh that made it evident that he was as disappointed as Daryl was at the reality of the situation. "We're probably the only ones out here looking for iron grating. We probably don't have to worry too much about anyone else beating us to any of it."

Daryl agreed. Even if there were other groups in the area, it wasn't likely that they were trying to build the same kind of permanent stead they were building, and even if they were, they'd need a pretty good sized group to go about it. Even with their numbers, Daryl could tell they were going to have a hard row ahead of them and they could certainly use larger, stronger numbers to work with.

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As Michonne, leading her small caravan with Lisette riding at her side and Rachel and Calista in the wagon following behind them, came up on the camp, she didn't immediately notice anything unusual.

Below them, in the distance and near the waterway, they could quickly see a couple of the men milling about and doing something, evidence they had arrived safely from their run. Michonne pulled her wagon to a stop without a second thought and moved to take down the side of the temporary gate that Tyreese had fashioned for them so that Rachel could pull around her and start the descent into the valley area.

Lisette kicked off their own progress, slapping the reins to send their team into the area and pulling the wagon to a stop so that Michonne, after closing the Gate back, could get on the wagon.

"Let's go see what they got," Michonne said, heaving herself back into the seat. "I bet we've got our work cut out for us."

Lisette laughed in response. It was only then that Michonne noticed the wagon in front of her losing speed and she slowly started to realize why it was doing this with the growing proximity to their camp.

The people milling about weren't their people...or rather Michonne hoped they weren't, because their movements made it clear that they weren't people. They were Walkers.

Michonne flicked the reins and surged forward, around Rachel's wagon, rushing toward the small cabin in the center, trying not to think about what the presence of Walkers in the valley might mean for the group left behind, what it might mean for her children.

Michonne wasn't even aware of the people around her. She grabbed her katana and leapt off the wagon before it had even come to a full stop. She pulled the blade free, the sheath in her other hand still, and mowed through the present Walkers with an urgency between panic and fury. If the others were fighting with her or if they'd ceased to exist entirely, she wasn't aware.

The present Walkers put down, Michonne ran toward the cabin and yanked at the door, finding it locked or barred. She beat at it.

"Carol! Let us in!" Michonne howled. "Libby! Alice!"

None of the four women left behind opened the door, though. It was Emma who opened the door, her face red and tear streaked, and Michonne very nearly shoved her out of the way.

Michonne made it to her children first and as though she were being pulled there by a magnet. She hugged them both and checked them over, not being able to focus on Hope's chatter for the moment.

Satisfied that they were fine, Michonne started to come into herself again. She looked around and took in the children at a quick scan, Isaac howling out in his interpretation of agony.

There were no adults.

"Emma, Haralee, where is everyone, what happened?" Michonne questioned, aware now that the other three women she'd travelled with had come inside behind her.

"They left," Haralee responded somewhat blankly, as was her manner. "They went after the men that killed Jacob."

Michonne felt her chest catch.

"Killed Jacob?" She asked. Haralee nodded but didn't respond. "Where did they go?"

Michonne was surprised at how calm her own voice sounded in such sharp contrast to how she felt. She sounded like she wasn't moved at all by anything happening around her, but she felt like she wasn't even breathing anymore, though the fact that she continued on her feet was proof that she must be.

"I can show you the way they went," Haralee said. "But even you must be able to follow the smell of blood."

Michonne couldn't follow the smell of blood.

"Show me," she said. She turned then to address everyone else. "Calista, stay here with the kids, get the animals in the barn if you can, protect the kids..."

Calista nodded at her.

"Lisette, Rachel, we have to get them. We have to go after everyone," she said.

Michonne pushed Haralee toward the door and followed her outside and toward the water, the girl angling their steps toward the part not immediately visible to them thanks to the location of the house.

As they rounded into sight, Michonne drew her katana in response to the sight of several more Walkers. The Walkers, feeding on a number of bodies she was afraid to look closely at, ignored Haralee as completely as they'd always ignored the little old woman that she'd travelled with until Muh's passing. They didn't ignore Michonne and she quickly helped them to part company with their heads.

The scene before her was carnage. What was left of the little boy was still on the ground there, no one being able to or having had the time to move him somewhere more respectable. Also slaughtered and picked apart, beside him, were the remains of one of their donkeys…one that they'd found on the road and Daryl had ironically named "Lucky" because of his circumstances.

There were also the slaughtered bodies of some men that Michonne didn't know, possibly those responsible for such a heinous act as the murder of the child, and Michonne didn't know if any of the Walkers had been part of the crime or if they'd simply wandered in to feed, drawn by the smell of the blood…a smell that they could follow, a smell that Haralee and Sadie both could follow, but a smell that Michonne couldn't follow.

"They went after the ones that ran," Haralee said. "They went that way, back the way they came."

If Michonne lived, she planned to find out exactly what had taken place, but at the moment she was too concerned with finding out what was happening now and getting back the people they were missing as safely as possible.

"Haralee, go back with the others and don't open the door for anyone you don't know. Ask Calista to move Jacob to the barn if she can," Michonne said to the girl.

Haralee nodded and trotted off for the cabin.

Michonne checked to make sure that she was followed by Lisette and Rachel, and she started in the direction that Haralee had indicated, trying to mentally prepare herself for whatever they might find, but already sure that she might never be able to be prepared for the possibilities.

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Michonne could hear the blood pounding in her ears and her breath rattling in her chest as the only evidence that she was exerting more energy than she had grown accustomed to spending in any one burst.

She was moving along in almost a fog. Every Walker she encountered, she cut down without more than a second thought to the fact that two women were just behind her, waiting to back her up. Every Walker or corpse that was already down, she turned over, worried she would eventually stumble upon a familiar face instead of simply upon what she believed to be the handiwork of familiar hands.

As she crashed through the underbrush, beginning to wonder when this garish scavenger hunt might end, Michonne heard a hiss...a hiss followed by her name growled out low.

Michonne looked around her, stopping short and hearing the hiss again.

"Over here," she heard the voice hiss.

When she finally found the source of the voice, her lack of breath was intensified from the moment of relief she felt when she saw two familiar faces peering out at her from the cover of a nearby bush.

"Get down," Carol hissed at her.

Michonne turned quickly enough to see that Rachel and Lisette had already followed the order, whether or not they did it before they heard the command she didn't know. Michonne crouched down immediately, looking around and trying to take in all that was happening around her.

"Are you hurt?" Michonne asked, keeping her voice as low as the hiss had been.

"Just resting," Carol responded, panting out the words little.

Carol and Sadie were there, hiding in the bushes, but that didn't explain where Libby and Alice were.

"Where are the others?" Michonne asked.

"Alice went ahead, just to see what's going on," Carol replied. "Libby ran ahead...she ran into their camp. That's how we got here, all following Libby."

Michonne didn't have time to ask for more information before there was a rustling nearby for which the three of them simultaneously readied their weapons in anticipation of some possible attack.

Out of the bushes, bloodied and dirtied as those she'd left hidden to await her return, Alice emerged, looking surprised to see Michonne there, and maybe the women beyond her if she could see them from her position and location.

"When did you get here?" Alice asked, her surprise not faded.

"What's going on out there?" Michonne asked, sure that the woman's question was more one of those knee jerk questions that we ask instead of one that she actually expected a response to.

Alice's lip was split, but Michonne couldn't be sure how much else of the blood that any of her three now-found companions was wearing belonged to them and how much belonged to any of the numerous Walkers and people that they'd left in their wake.

Alice obviously swallowed with some difficulty.

"We're never going to make it through there," she said, shaking her head. "We're going to have to turn around…it's hopeless. There are too many people. They've got a camp. It's a large camp…looks to be established. All men and at least twenty of them."

"Where's Libby?" Michonne responded.

"She's in there," Alice responded. "She ran right into them. We tried to stop her, but we couldn't."

"We're not leaving Libby," Carol protested. "We can't just leave her…"

Michonne nodded her head with the sentiment.

"We don't leave each other," Michonne said. "We're not starting that now with Libby. If she's in there, we're going in there."

"There are at least twenty men," Alice said, somewhat incredulous. "There are at least twenty men and we're never going to get her back. It's a suicide mission if we go in there right now."

"And it's a murder if we don't," Michonne said. "If we leave Libby then we killed her ourselves."

"We can't do this," Alice said, shaking her head. "They outnumber us…a whole lot."

"I saw what the four of you did on the way here," MIchonne said. "And that was without me, Lisette, and Rachel. We're twice as strong now as you were. We're going in there."

"Yeah…about that," Alice said. "There's just one problem. They're armed."

"So are we," Michonne said, holding up her katana in case the brunette had missed seeing it before.

"They've got guns," Alice said. "We don't."

"We're not leaving Libby," Lisette said definitively.


	19. Chapter 19

When Daryl got back to the camp with the equipment, he pulled the truck he was driving to a stop and got out to direct the others so that they could park the equipment as close to their barbed wire barriers as possible. They'd leave it there, rest up for the night, and then they'd try to get as much done the next day as they could. That was the only way to progress at this point. They had to simply take it one day at a time.

As everyone filed out, they gathered together their sacks and anything they could carry, slipped through the barbed wire barrier, and made their way down into the valley toward the barn and cabin that they were using at the center of their camp.

Scanning the area as they walked, everyone coming slowly behind him, filing one by one through the wire, Daryl could see the wagons parked. Michonne's group was back. They were the last to arrive, but that meant that they'd most likely be the ones bringing back the worst news, they weren't going to get their project done as quickly as they'd hoped.

Then, though, Daryl's eyes fell on something that he hadn't expected to see. His eyes fell on something moving and he realized, almost immediately, that it was a Walker. There were Walkers in their camp. A little further inspection, and Daryl realized that scattered around the ground, looking little more like darker spots in the grassy area around the field they were working to establish, were slain Walker bodies.

Daryl started running, yelling "Walkers" as he went. He knew, too, that as soon as everyone else heard what he had yelled, they would be falling in behind him.

His heart pounded in his chest and the muscles of his legs throbbed even before he reached the cabin he was running for. He could tell, as he weaved around the bodies littering the ground, that the Walkers had met Michonne's katana. There were still snapping and snarling heads, lost now from the bodies that would have made them truly dangerous, a clear sign that his wife had made her way through this crowd before him.

But he didn't know what else might be waiting on them, especially since the bodies were simply lying about, their heads still biting at nothing, instead of being piled up by everyone to be burnt, which would have been proof of a fight won.

Daryl didn't stop until he hit the cabin, and then he only stopped because the door didn't give, his body slamming into it and finding it locked. He could only hope that they'd done what they told them to do and they'd locked themselves in the cabin for protection until they all returned to offer backup.

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Michonne had been shot before. There was a distinct feeling to being shot…it was one that many of them had felt before, but most of them thought they could do without feeling again. No matter her feelings on the subject, though, she knew that she'd been shot again.

She wasn't sure where, exactly, and she wasn't sure how bad it was, but she was sure that moving was excruciating.

So at the moment she didn't move. She remained still, her eyes closed and her head spinning, wondering exactly what was going on around her and what was going to happen to them all.

They'd fought, all of them, with all the fury of hell. They'd fought like their lives depended on it, because they did, and she knew that when she'd last had a somewhat clear view of what was happening, most of them were still on their feet and still fighting, but the same couldn't be said for the camp that they'd descended on.

She was almost embarrassed to think that she'd fallen rather early, the bullet that had ripped through whatever part of her body rendering her unconscious for at least a short spell.

Time ticked by at a strange rate when you were injured and there was a chance that death was coming soon for you, and for so many people that you loved.

Now that she was conscious again, though, and her mind wasn't quite as foggy as it had been, she wasn't sure what the toll was on either side. All she knew was that her mind felt fuzzy, though it was growing a little clearer, and that she didn't want to move if she didn't have to. She wanted to stay right where she was and wait to see what might happen.

And around her? Around her there was silence. Either there was silence or something had happened and she knew now what it was like to live in Sadie's world. And she might have believed that, but every now and again she did hear the sounds of people...or Walkers…or things…wandering about.

"Are you…alive…are you…OK?" Michonne heard the scratchy but familiar voice of Carol.

She turned her head slightly to the side, seeking out her friend's voice or face, whichever she could find. She found her face almost against her own.

Carol smiled softly.

"You're alive," she panted.

Michonne couldn't help but smile in response to the expression on Carol's face. It looked to be one of genuine happiness, an expression that seemed so out of place in the situation they were in.

Michonne's mouth was dry, but she swallowed anyway.

"I'm shot," she said.

Carol leaned around her a little, remaining on the ground next to her.

"You are…just stay still," Carol said. "Just don't move, and we'll figure this out."

Michonne hissed when Carol did something and Carol apologized quickly.

"Your katana," Carol said. "I didn't want you to roll on it…and I might need it."

She laughed lightly, panting a little at the exertion of getting the weapon out from under Michonne's body where it had ended up.

"I always wanted to use it," Carol teased. "I just didn't think it would happen this way. Walkers will be coming soon, though. This gives me a little reach…"

"Are you hurt?" Michonne asked.

"No," Carol said. "Just…resting. Just tired."

Michonne could tell that the woman was lying. Carol wasn't half the liar that she believed herself to be. But she was obviously not too severely hurt.

"Alice!" Michonne heard Lisette's voice ring out. "Alice! Over here!"

Lisette appeared then, over both Michonne and Carol.

"Found her," Carol said.

Lisette was bloody and a mess, but Michonne wasn't going to venture a guess as to what she looked like. They seemed, on the whole, to look like complete messes. Lisette knelt beside Michonne, hovering a little.

"Shot?" She asked.

"That's what it looks like," Carol said.

"That's what it is," Michonne said, trying not to move much. "Everyone else…where are they? Are they OK? Did we find Libby?"

"Everyone's fine," Lisette said. "Everyone's just fine. Everyone's alive."

There was a grand difference between alive and fine, but in the moment Michonne assumed they might be one and the same, and at least there was something at the moment.

Alice appeared next, rougher looking than she had been when Michonne had last seen her. She took her place on her knees beside Lisette and Michonne tried to watch what she was doing for a moment, obviously examining the wound, but she finally gave up trying to watch her and just rested back with her eyes closed, waiting for information.

"Yeah…you're shot," Alice said. "OK, I'm going to bind it up. The bad news is that you're shot. The good news is that it went clean through and it looks like it's not that bad. If it had hit anything major, well…"

"Well what?" Carol asked.

"She'd be dead," Alice said blankly. "But she's not dead, which means she's not going to die. I don't lose patients that just aren't supposed to die. I'll bind it up. You'll be just fine."

Michonne moaned her agreement with the woman and kept her eyes closed against the pain of everything that was taking place while the woman bound the wound in her side. She listened as she directed Lisette to take Rachel, Rachel who must be as uninjured as Lisette was, and head back toward the camp. They were to bring whoever they could find. They were to tell them that they needed assistance getting the group back to the camp.

And Michonne heard Lisette leave. And she heard some directions to Carol from Alice about the wound before she felt the pressure of Carol pressing on her side.

And when she opened her eyes again, she was alone with Carol once more, Alice having disappeared quietly.

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_Who the hell would cut barbed wire fencing to kill a boy and a donkey? What the hell were they even after? _

Daryl was chewing on these questions while he powered through the brush, bodies of Walkers and people unturned littering the way, others following him.

What had they come for? Because from the looks of it, they'd left with nothing.

And maybe they'd come for the women, or maybe they'd come for the children, or maybe they'd even come for the livestock, but they hadn't left with any of it.

They'd left with the women, evidently, but from what Daryl gathered, they probably hadn't left with the women the way that they'd intended to leave with them. They'd left with the women pursuing them. Fighting them, so it seemed, every step of the way.

Daryl almost felt a swell of pride at the carnage he passed in the woods because he knew that as long he tripped over no bodies that proved to be the women they were in search of now, it meant that they were holding their own. It meant that they were the ones doling out death instead of receiving it. It meant that the women who had gone through the woods after these men had gone to avenge the death of a small boy and they'd taken their payment in blood.

But even the swell of pride wasn't enough to completely choke out the concern that Daryl felt that eventually they would simply run out of steam. He was concerned that eventually he would begin to find the bodies of the women…and he wasn't prepared for that, and he doubted that many of the men crashing through the brush behind him in silence were prepared for it either.

Daryl very nearly slammed into the body coming in his direction, a body that turned out to be two bodies, two bodies that were familiar although not as they usually appeared at breakfast.

Daryl grabbed Lisette by the shoulders and her face dissolved into the tears that she was fighting back. Daryl didn't know if she was crying over something tragic or if it was simply being overwhelmed by the situation. He shook her slightly.

"Where the hell is Michonne?" He asked.

She turned, pointing behind her at the woods, the trail still sprinkled in front of him with the bodies that they were using to track them, since any idiot could have followed the trail that they'd left.

Rachel came crashing into them as well.

Her shock didn't dissolve her into tears like it had to Lisette. Her shock made her appear to almost not be human. It made her appear to be very nearly robotic.

"They're all there. We need help. We can't move everyone," Rachel said, her voice never changing tone at all.

"All where?" Tyreese asked quickly from behind Daryl.

"There's a camp in that direction," Rachel responded. "They're all there. They're all…there."

"Is anyone dead?" Rick called from behind them, his voice wavering a little with the panic that they were all feeling.

"Not when we left," Lisette responded, finally getting herself under control.

"Is it straight that way?" Daryl asked.

Lisette and Rachel both nodded.

"Get back to the camp if you can," Daryl responded. "Get back and get things ready. Take Mark with you. We'll come and we'll bring 'em all."

The two women nodded again, almost in unison, and then they continued forward through the group and toward the camp that they'd left behind with Calista and the children waiting there.

Daryl pushed forward without a word, in the direction of the place that had been indicated to them, relieved that no one was dead, at least as of yet, and determined to get there before that statistic changed for anyone.


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: I edited this one and got it out as quickly as I could for BeJewel and Channel-Reign, since they're always excited to know what's going to happen, or in this case, what happened.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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When Daryl busted through into the clearing that he was seeking, he couldn't immediately make heads or tails of what was happening around him.

There were bodies around, littering the ground, and there was no telling at a glance how many were Walkers and how many had been living men.

The first person he saw was Alice wandering around with some purpose that was clear to her and her alone.

"Michonne's over there," Alice said, gesturing. "Carol's with her. We need to get them back. Libby's in this direction and I need help with her. Sadie's with her, but she can get her own self back."

And just like that, the woman trotted off, disappearing into one of the tents that had once belonged to the camp of now dead men.

Daryl turned around quickly and looked at everyone who had followed him this far and hadn't turned back with Rachel and Lisette to get things ready for their return. They all looked as stunned and overwhelmed as he felt in the moment. They were a little late for the battle, it seemed.

Not knowing what else to do or what to say, he gestured in the direction that the brunette had indicated they would find Libby and told some to go get her before he headed toward where his wife was located.

Finding Michonne wasn't difficult except for the fact that she was surrounded by roughly butchered Walkers, the handiwork of Carol who was sitting beside her, Michonne's katana I'm hand, hacking at whatever came close in the most unprofessional way possibly imagined.

Daryl slid to his knees beside Michonne and called her name softly. She turned her head and offered him something of a smile.

"Took you long enough," she said.

Daryl chuckled.

"I thought I told you not to get shot again," he responded.

"It's just a scratch," Michonne responded.

Daryl nodded at her, hoping that her assessment of the injury was accurate.

"What about you?" Daryl asked Carol, though Tyreese was already over her, trying to examine the injuries.

He never got an answer from either of them though because Alice came up, talking as she came. From somewhere she'd acquired a sack that looked like an army issued rucksack.

"Where the hell you been?" Daryl asked.

"This place is well stocked," she responded. "We'd be smart to leave anyone not moving people to gather up everything they can carry and then some. Hell, we won it, it's ours."

Daryl wasn't opposed to that idea in the slightest.

"What the hell we do to get 'em back?" Daryl asked, gesturing back toward the women on the ground.

"Rick, Beau, and Malachi already started back with Libby and Sadie. If you can carry these two back, great," Alice responded. "I'd recommend making a gurney for Michonne, keep her body as straight as you can...Tyreese...keep Carol's wounds bound and she won't bleed out. I'm heading back. I need to see to Libby first. Then I'll come see Michonne."

She didn't wait for any kind of response from anyone. She shifted about her sack and started off, back toward their camp.

"Ty, can you carry Carol?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, no problem," Tyreese responded.

"Then take off with her and send me whoever else is around. We'll get Michonne and I'll send them to gather up whatever they can find," Daryl said.

Tyreese nodded and gathered Carol up, ignoring her hissing out in pain at him and started off to find someone to do Daryl's bidding.

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"What the hell happened?" Daryl asked Michonne when he finally had her safely in the room that they were now calling their own and was washing at her wounds while he waited for the brunette to come and do what she was going to do to be sure that everything healed as it should.

"I don't know," Michonne admitted. "When I got here I nearly had a heart attack. All four of them were just gone."

"Imagine how the hell we all felt getting back to find you all gone," Daryl responded.

"At least everyone's alive," Michonne said. "Everyone will heal..."

"Except Jacob," Daryl said quietly. "I just don't understand it, 'Chonne. Why the hell go through all that just to kill a boy?"

"It wasn't about killing the boy," Alice's voice replied.

Daryl turned quickly and saw her coming in the door with a bag.

"Pardon the interruption," she said apologetically.

Daryl shook his head to excuse the interruption and waved her into the room. She came in and started unpacking things from her bag.

"Wasn't about killing the boy," she repeated. "It was about killing all of us. It just turned out the boy's as far as they got. They weren't expecting all hell to break loose on their asses like it did. I'm going to have to stitch this up."

Daryl immediately offered Michonne his pillow to put over her face while the woman went over where he'd been before and cleaned the wound more thoroughly.

"So since you got some answers, what the hell happened? Why'd they want to kill everyone?" Daryl asked.

Alice looked at him a moment and lifted the edge of the pillow to look at Michonne.

"You want to talk about this while I do this?" Alice asked.

Michonne nodded and returned her pillow.

"I want to know," Michonne said. "And I appreciate the distraction."

Alice nodded and went back to work. Daryl watched the concentration on her face and the very careful movements of her fingers, quite different from when Mark and Carol put in stitches and cleaned wounds. There was an obvious confidence in everything she was doing.

"Where do I start?" Alice asked. "The what or my thoughts on the why?"

"Let's hear what happened first," Daryl said.

Alice didn't look at him while she spoke. She focused her eyes only on what she was doing to Michonne's wound.

"We were working on the field and we had the kids in the cabin, you know, while we worked. So we left the door open so that they could come out on the porch and let us know if anyone needed anything because Emma and Haralee were out with us. Well...Jacob asked Libby if he could take the animals out of the barn, you know to eat some grass or whatever and to water them. She said he could, but one at the time so that he didn't get pulled around or whatever she thought they were going to do to him. For a while that's what he was doing too. Then...and this is where it gets kind of chicken and the egg because it all happened so fast...Sadie started yelling that there were Walkers. We couldn't see any but she could smell them, and then we saw a couple of them and she ran at them. And Carol, she went for the cabin to get the kids all shut up in there. I'm not going to lie. For a minute I was just kind of standing there because I didn't know what was going on and then Libby...she yelled...Jacob was in that area where Sadie was catching the Walkers as they came, but we hadn't heard anything from him. So then Libby went after him...and I guess that's when we all realized there were men there, and they'd killed Jacob, and then we just fell in. We just started fighting against them. And Libby went running off after the ones that were getting away and we...Daryl, can you help me turn her?"

Daryl snapped out of his imagining of what the woman was saying and quickly helped her to get Michonne into the position she was trying for with a little assistance from the patient.

"Anyway," Alice said, getting back to work, "that's about it. She went after them and we went after her."

"Ok...but why, then?" Daryl asked.

"Why not?" Alice responded. "They probably saw it as a good opportunity. Nobody here but a couple of women and some kids. They kill us easily enough, maybe rape us if that's their thing. There's no reason for it to hurt their feelings or make them lose any sleep, and then they take everything we have and everything they want. Their camp was well stocked. That's why it's even worth cleaning out."

"So you think they've done it before?" Michonne asked, apparently feeling well enough at the moment, now that Alice was re-cleaning and bandaging her wounds.

"Maybe...probably, but not a lot," Alice said. "They were amateurs. They didn't know much of what they were doing. They'd seen it before, though. They might have broken off of a bigger, stronger group or something. Maybe they were kicked out or something? I don't know. They'd seen it before, though, and they weren't entirely sure how to do what they were trying to do, not when we started fighting back with the fury of hell."

She laughed to herself a little at the thought or at her own words.

"Why do you say they didn't know what they was doin'?" Daryl asked.

"No one out if our group got killed, first of all," Alice said. "And one tried to sever the main artery in Carol's leg right here..." She gestured to show Daryl. "If he'd done it, he would have killed her, but he cut her about three or four times and never got it right. A seasoned killer would have gotten it right with that much opportunity. Hell...anyone not just too clumsy and inexperienced would have gotten it right."

"So there are more out there," Michonne said with a sigh.

"Without a doubt," Alice responded. "But for now we can hope they'll stumble upon that camp and we'll have a reputation for ourselves. How's that? How does it feel?"

Michonne moved around a little with a grunt.

"Hurts," she said with a sigh.

Alice chuckled.

"It's going to do that, but it's going to heal. Take it easy for at least a week and we can go from there," she said.

Daryl and Michonne both thanked the woman for her efforts and Daryl complimented her on the fine job she'd done on the stitches.

"Not a problem," Alice said. "I'll get you something for pain after I've seen to Carol, Sadie, and Rachel...or Mark can get you something if you want to send Daryl over there."

"I can wait," Michonne said. "Is everyone else OK?"

Alice nodded.

"Nothing fatal," she said. "I'll know more later. But for now? Everyone should heal just fine."

She directed her attention to Daryl then.

"I wanted to bring it up to you or everyone, or however that works, but if we took a team and got some supplies, and if we could get some generators going on one if these houses, I could set us up a pretty nice little hospital. It could be good for more serious injuries if we had something happen," Alice said.

Daryl thought the suggestion sounded like a good one. He nodded.

"Yeah...we'll talk to everyone," he responded, "but I don't see no one having no kinda problem with being prepared."

Alice smiled softly and nodded, packing her things up in her bag.

"We can talk about it later," she said. "I'll be back around to check on you after I make my rounds."

And with that she patted Michonne's hand closest to her and then started out the room to go across the hall to her next waiting patient.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Sorry it's taken me a while to get around to this one again. We have a few chapters of fall out to come but this is the first one that I have. We're going to be seeing some other families and POVs for a couple of chapters. **

**I'll try to update more often. I'm on vacation but I wanted to make sure this one got done to get back in my rhythm of updating here. **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Carol was feeding Isaac. She'd insisted on it since the baby was crying as though he'd been injured in the attack instead of everyone else. Judith was sitting by her side, stroking Carol's hair in a petting motion, and Tyreese was keeping pressure on the wounds the way that he'd been instructed, though he suspected that the bleeding had very nearly stopped by now. He didn't let up, though, in case it was the pressure that had stopped the bleeding.

When he heard the tapping at the door, he called the doctor inside the room and she came in carrying a bag that he imagined had equipment in it.

"I didn't get the memo that it was dinnertime around here," she said with a smile, nodding her head in the direction of Isaac as she started to go through the bag for things that she might need. "Jude, you're a good nurse, aren't you?"

Judith nodded enthusiastically at the woman and crawled toward the foot of the bed, earning little more than a grimace from Carol at the swaying and shifting mattress.

"I am," Judith declared. "I'm real good…I can get splinters out."

Judith's claim to medical fame was that every time Tyreese got a splinter, Carol would work it out until it was lying on the surface of his skin and then she would instruct Judith to help her with her tweezers to get it the rest of the way. Judith saw this as serious surgery, but they didn't correct her, figuring it might at least spark an interest for medical work in the girl and that was more than needed as time went on.

"Can you be a big help to me then? Can you go downstairs and wait by the door?" Alice asked. "Mark's bringing in some things that I need and I really need you to help him. Can you do that for me? So I can fix your mom up?"

Judith declared that she could, slipped off the bed with a thud, and went as fast as her feet could fly out of the room to do just as she'd been instructed. Alice smiled after her.

"I didn't think she really wanted to be around for the gory part," Alice said. "But she's quick and she likes to learn. She could learn a lot when she's older."

"That's what we're hoping for," Tyreese said. "Let me get Isaac."

"No rush," Alice said. "Let him finish eating. We've got time. The crisis here is over for now."

"He's almost done," Carol assured her. "I think most of what's happening right now is just greed."

Alice laughed.

"He's a healthy baby," she said. "Five, six months old?"

"Something like that," Carol said. "I'm a terrible mother, but I've lost track of time entirely."

"It happens," Alice said. "But I've looked him over a couple of times. He's a healthy little chunk. All the kids around here are."

"We take care of our children," Tyreese offered.

It still took his breath away any time he allowed himself to think about Jacob and what had happened to him.

"I know you do," Alice said. "It's clear that you do."

When Isaac was done eating, Carol offered him to Tyreese and Tyreese left Alice with control of the wounds that he'd been keeping his hands over since they'd gotten Carol settled. He took the boy and eased himself down beside Carol on the bed, slipping her hand into his in case she wanted to squeeze it while Alice cleaned and stitched the wounds.

"You're the go to guy about building and electrical and stuff, right?" Alice asked as she worked.

"I guess you could say that," Tyreese offered, balancing Isaac against him as the boy tried to look around with his wobbly head and take in all that he could of what was happening around him.

"How hard would it be to get one of these houses working on generators?" Alice asked. "One house that was really, really reliable as far as electricity went?"

Tyreese considered it.

"It wouldn't be that hard to do," he said. "Not as long as we found generators that worked or that we could get working. We'd need to fuel them…that could be harder because it would take scavenging. There are wood powered generators too, but I don't know much about them."

"Let's say we could get all that, though, do you think you could power a house?" Alice asked.

"If we had everything we needed?" Tyreese asked. "No problem…why?"

"I was thinking," Alice said. "I was a surgeon…and not to toot my own horn, but I was a pretty damn good one. If I had power? I could set up a hospital. We could get equipment…I could be set up to save lives, and I mean really save them. There are always things I couldn't fix, obviously, but I could go a long way toward turning even big injuries into small things if I had the things I needed to do it."

"Could you do that?" Carol asked, turning her attention to Tyreese. He didn't like to look at her because even if she didn't voice that she was uncomfortable with the work that the woman was doing, he could see it registering on her face.

"I suppose we could do that," he offered. "Again, a lot of it would depend on if we could find everything…"

"Then let's find it," Alice said definitively. "I saw that camp. If those assholes could amass everything they had then we can get whatever it is that we need to make sure that everyone's safe and that if they're not, we get them back to health. It would take me a lot less time, too, if I had all my patients in one place. It could be the difference between someone bleeding out and not bleeding out."

Tyreese shifted quickly then to get a look at what Alice was doing, glancing back at Carol to try to assure himself that she was OK and that Alice wasn't referring to her bleeding out. His heart thundered in his chest at the mere suggestion of it.

And Alice apparently knew that he was thinking that because she shook her head.

"She's fine," Alice said. "The guy who did this didn't know what he was doing, but he had a pretty good idea if you're trying to kill someone. See…we protect things we think about. We protect our heads, our chests and stomachs, necks…but we forget that if he'd cut right here," she signaled with her finger, "then he would have cut a major artery and she'd have been dead before anyone could have done anything about it. I couldn't have saved her even with a fully functioning hospital."

"But she's OK?" Tyreese asked.

He felt Carol squeeze his hand he heard her hum at him, but he wanted to hear it from the doctor.

"She's OK," Alice assured him. "She'll need to take it easy for a couple of days and that ankle's going to need to be splinted. That's what Mark's bringing me, but she's OK."

"I'll figure out how to get you your hospital," Tyreese said. "I'll talk to Daryl. We'll get it together."

Alice smiled.

"Good…you get me that and I can say "she's OK" to a lot more situations," Alice offered. "And those are my favorite words to say as a physician."

By the time that Alice finished with Carol's stitches and cleaned them again, Mark was knocking at the door.

"Hold on," Alice called out. "Let me get this bandaged up and offer her a little more modesty."

Tyreese heard Mark snort from outside.

The stitches bandaged then, Alice called the man inside and Tyreese shifted around and held Carol's hand while they worked to splint the ankle that had been injured enough times that it was especially given to damage, most of the injuries having come before she'd ever even known a Walker infested world.

"Mark, is everyone else OK?" Carol asked.

Mark shook his head.

"We're not sure about Libby," Mark offered honestly. "She's going to pull through physically, but she's suffered a lot. And of course…Jacob."

"Beau?" Carol asked.

"I saw Daryl going out," Mark offered. "He said Michonne sent him to Beau. Beau's…well…he's as good as can be expected and that's really all I can say about that."

"Mel should talk to them," Alice said. "My partner? She's a psychiatrist and she's a good one. She can't fix your problems, but she's really good at teaching you different ways to look at them."

"It wouldn't hurt for her to talk to everyone," Tyreese said quickly. "Here and there, I mean. We've all seen a few things that keep us up at night if we're not careful."

"She'd be happy to do it," Alice said. "I can promise you that. Melodye loved her job before all of this, every bit as much as I loved mine. We might not be able to pull our weight around here in a lot of ways…I mean neither of us is a natural hawse or anything, but we'd be more than happy to offer the skills that we do have."

"We accept all kinds of skills," Mark offered. "We take what we can get from everyone. We've all got strengths and we've all got weaknesses."

Alice rubbed her hand somewhat affectionately over Carol's leg as she tied on the last piece of torn sheet that would hold the splint she'd put on in place.

"Well, you've got a lot of strengths," Alice said to Carol, "but this ankle is a weakness. I need you to stay off it and stay down for a few days. Can you do that?"

Tyreese interjected his voice quickly and authoritatively enough to earn him an expression from Isaac that said he might cry.

"She will do it," he said. "I can promise you that. She didn't take time off when Isaac is born…she's got a few days coming to her."

Carol laughed at him.

"Easy, Ty," she said, her voice showing that everything had taken a toll on her whether she'd admit it or not. "I'm not going to argue."

"Damn right you're not," Tyreese responded, shooting her a smile and a quick wink along with his words.

"We need to get as much of the fences done as we can," Mark said, directing his words to Tyreese. "I think we should start with the sun up with whoever's able. We'll put those who can't work on fences doing the planting. We need food, but we need protection more and today might not have been a single attack."

"Today was a single attack," Alice said. "Those men won't be back. Dead men don't go after people. It just might not be the case that they're the only ones out there. Food's important, but we can scavenge for that if we have to. Protection is first…then we get the food in the ground…then you get me my hospital. The rest we can figure out as it comes."

Tyreese might have responded to the brunette, but she didn't allow him the time to or the silence to speak. She gathered her things together, told Carol to stay put, asked Mark to check in on Michonne once more before heading to check up on Libby again, and patted Jude on the head when the little girl came bounding to the room, Hope hot on her heels, to see what was going on.

And then Alice disappeared to finish her rounds.

Tyreese looked at Mark who was standing there, gathering together the things he'd brought with him and shaking his head.

"She's pretty bossy," Tyreese offered.

"That she is," Mark said with a laugh. "But…she's good. Sometimes I think people like that are all talk, but I don't think she is."

"I don't think so either," Tyreese said. "And I can appreciate a bossy woman. I married one."

Carol slapped at him and he laughed at her, rubbing the spot she'd slapped as though it had hurt, though it really hadn't. He passed her back Isaac, kissed her, and declared that he was going to go and see about getting some little girls to bed so that he could sleep and be ready to get work done on the fences at the first light of morning.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter here.**

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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"You could have been killed!" Rick declared. "You can't keep doing stupid things! I'm not going to just stand by while you commit suicide, running into everything the moment that you can."

"I was with everyone else!" Sadie responded back, signing as she spoke. "I wasn't getting killed. I didn't get killed. None of us got killed!"

"Stop that!" Rick said, stepping forward and catching her arms in his hands. He only realized when she howled that had grabbed her arms, one of which was twisted or sprained in the whole unorganized attack the women had lead on the men who had killed Jacob.

He let go of her arm quickly and accepted the stinging slap she landed across his face upon her release. He'd earned it and he could see the tears brimming in her eyes, letting him know that he'd hurt more than she even let on.

"Don't sign at me," Rick said shaking his head. "I'm trying to talk to you. I'm trying to talk seriously and you know I don't understand that."

Sadie looked at him like she might scratch his eyes out. It was a look intimidating enough he might have backed away from her if he hadn't known she wouldn't do anything to him beyond the knee jerk reaction of slapping him for the hurt that he'd caused her.

"I read lips…for you! I speak…for you!" Sadie responded. "You could sign…for me!"

"This isn't about that," Rick said. "This is about you always having to be the one to run into things. You've always got to be the one to go into things that you know are dangerous. You don't even stop to think about the fact that you might be killed. I don't want to lose you, and I certainly don't want to lose you because you were doing things that you weren't able to do."

Sadie scoffed at him. He hated and he loved, at the same time, the way that the woman had the capacity to have a full conversation with him based entirely on her facial expressions.

"Rick," she said, "I was with everyone else. You don't know…you weren't there! They killed him! They killed him and they would have killed everyone else! Even me! I couldn't not go, Rick."

Rick started to protest again, but Sadie walked past him, leaving the small bedroom that they shared in the cabin and stomped out. He didn't bother following her. He knew how this would end. It would end like most arguments of the same nature, with Sadie turning her back on him in anger and flatly ignoring him until she felt like they were both calm enough to discuss it.

Rick sat down on the bed and squeezed at his temples.

They'd never intended this to happen. Just like everywhere else they'd ever been, they'd intended this place to be a safe haven. They'd seen it as some sort of salvation, but already they were seeing the need to create a graveyard there.

The whole world was a graveyard now. And Rick was tired of the loss, just like everyone else, even if he felt like he might have suffered more loss than some had so far.

He looked up when he heard the tapping on the door frame, knowing that it wouldn't be Sadie since she typically stomped her foot or clapped to get attention.

Carl came in the room, standing slightly off from Rick, his arms folded across his chest.

"Sadie's crying," Carl offered.

Rick chuckled ironically.

"I don't care," he muttered. "She brought it on herself."

Carl leaned back against an old chest of drawers in the room.

"She didn't," he said. "She didn't bring it on herself, Dad. And Sadie's not Mom."

"Carl, I know she's not your mother," Rick said.

"Do you?" Carl asked.

Rick stared at his son, challenging him, and he couldn't help but realize that, by drawing his attention to the fact that he felt he stood in a position to challenge him like that, Carl was possibly subconsciously drawing attention to the fact that he was no longer the boy that had suffered the loss of his mother. He could barely be called a boy at all anymore.

He was a young man and he was standing up against his father for a woman who didn't need anyone to stand up for her.

"Carl," Rick said with a sigh, "I know she's not your mother. Lori and Sadie are so…different. There's no way that I could think they were the same person."

"Don't push her away, Dad," Carl said. "Not because you think she might die. It didn't make it better when Mom died. It won't make it better when Sadie dies."

Rick ran his tongue around his bottom lip and considered his son.

"I'm not pushing her away," Rick offered. "I just don't think that she should have gone galloping through the woods after a group of men that would have killed her for no reason at all. She's smart enough to know that's a bad idea."

Carl laughed and Rick was almost surprised that he was laughing at him when they were talking about something like this.

"There's no thinking anymore, Dad," Carl said. "Not when it comes to something like that. They all went together…Alice, Carol, Sadie, Libby…they thought, but not about whether or not they would die. They thought about if someone else would die. They thought about the fact that Jacob had already died."

Rick stared at Carl and shifted his weight.

"So you think she did the right thing?" Rick asked.

"She did the only thing," Carl said. "That's what we do now. We save each other and hope that they save us back."

Carl stood up from his leaning position, stretching himself to his full height and turned to leave the room. He stopped before he did, his hand catching on the doorframe.

"Don't push her away, Dad," Carl offered again before he stepped out. "It doesn't work."

Rick waited until Carl had disappeared from sight, probably off to the other side of the upstairs where Jimmy and Junior were bunking, and then he got up from the bed and gave his son credit for having reason at the moment.

Whether or not it had been his explicit intention, and even he wasn't sure why he did the things he did always, he'd pushed Lori away and it hadn't made her death any easier when it had come. Carl was right. It was a knee jerk response to want to push people away when you feared that losing them might hurt, but all that was really doing was speeding up the process of losing them and leaving him with more guilt than he could swallow down when the inevitable happened.

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"Beau?" Daryl asked, stepping into the pitch black barn with nothing more than the swinging lantern he'd brought to light his way.

He didn't have to wonder if Beau was down here. He knew this was where he'd find the boy…or man…or whatever it was that Daryl was supposed to think of Beau as.

The barn was one structure they were glad to have standing as it already housed their animals, but it needed work. It would keep out any minor weather but it wouldn't stand if anything major came. Beau and Libby had moved their little family immediately into the hayloft of the structure, choosing it over any of the houses, and declaring that there they would stay until they built something of their own.

Except Libby, and along with her Emma and Sam, had been moved to one of the houses after today's attack. Daryl didn't know what kind of condition Libby was in exactly, but he knew that it wasn't good.

And Michonne had sent him down to the barn to take care of Jacob and check on Beau, out of fear that Beau's condition, though of a different sort, might not be that great either.

As soon as Daryl stepped into the structure good, around the sounds of the distraught animals that could smell the death in their presence as surely as Daryl could, he could hear the sounds of Beau sobbing. He decided, though, that he wouldn't point it out in the slightest. Beau was allowed to cry if he wanted to cry. Daryl certainly wasn't going to tell him not to.

Daryl found him, sitting against the back wall of the barn, cradling the lifeless and probably stiff body in his arms and crying over it. Daryl couldn't say that he wouldn't be very much in the same way if he were in Beau's position. He was sorry to see the boy gone, but he'd have been much sorrier if it had been one of his children.

"Beau," Daryl said, softening his tone, "we gotta…gotta put him in the ground, you know? Gotta get him in the ground before he smells too bad. He wouldn't want that…"

"He don't want nothin' now!" Beau declared, more anger coming out in those words than Daryl was accustomed to hearing from him.

Daryl cleared his throat.

"Beau, lemme help you, alright? You and me. We'll go find him a nice spot. We'll bury him right where you can visit him. Nice spot for him…maybe right down in the valley? Over near where it starts to hill up on that far side? I'll help you…get him taken care of all nice and proper," Daryl offered, paying close attention to keeping his tone of voice as steady and soft as he could.

"Why'd they do it, Daryl?" Beau asked, his voice coming out in racked sobs. "Why'd they go an' do it anyway? He weren't doin' nothin' ta nobody! He was a good boy…he was just walkin' that damned stupid animal. They ain't had ta up an' kill 'im!"

Daryl wiped at his eyes, his chest feeling like it was closing in on him just from the sound in Beau's voice. He didn't know why Michonne had sent him out here. He wasn't any better equipped to handle this than anyone else might have been. He'd never lost a kid. He'd never lost anyone even close to that.

"Beau…we gotta bury him," Daryl said. "They was assholes every one of 'em but they dead now. And you know what Muh woulda said. She'd have said you couldn't sit here in the dirt pining over him 'cause he's better off now. Death days…we're supposed to celebrate right? Even if we don't understand why or…"

He stopped, wishing he even believed fully what he was saying and trying hard to believe the words in case he was the one that needed them later.

"Even if we don't understand why, Beau, we gotta celebrate his life, remember?" Daryl said. "He's gone on his journey…just like Muh did and just like…like we all goin' on one day."

Beau seemed a little soothed by the mention of the old woman that had wormed her way, one way or another, into the hearts and minds of all of them. She'd done it so completely that Daryl had heard one or another comment that they felt like she was with them on the trip, that they felt like she could talk to them still.

And even Daryl sometimes thought he could hear the old woman laugh or hear her talking in the strange cadence that was one all her own.

"You reckon Muh knows about Jacob?" Beau asked. "Wherever she is? You reckon she knows?"

Daryl swallowed and nodded, not sure if Beau could see him or not in the dim light.

"She knows," Daryl said. "Hell…she beat us up here by my figurin'. She had a good head start on us…prob'ly moves a whole lot faster now, you think? Reckon she come on up here…old bat prob'ly turned her steps around just so she could be here to get him. She'll let him walk with her a while. Him and that old fleabitten animal. I bet they're already gone miles from here now. Muh would tell him there wasn't any reason waiting around for us to get our shit together, not if they had places to go."

Beau put the body down, but Daryl didn't make any move toward him since he wasn't entirely sure how Beau might react or what he might do. Beau got to his feet, gathered the body up as though the boy had weighed less than even Zeb, and started slowly toward Daryl.

"A real nice spot," Beau said. "Somewhere…somewhere shaded. Somewhere we can visit him…I'll make him a nice marker."

Daryl mustered up the best smile he could and nodded.

"Real nice," Daryl said. "I'll get us some shovels. I'll meet you outside. You and me…we'll take care of it, OK?"

Beau nodded only slightly as he carried the boy out of the barn. Daryl immediately went and found the shovels in the stall where they'd stashed everything unloaded from the wagons and he followed after him.

His only hope was that the grave they dug tonight might be the solitary grave that the place they called home had to see, at least for a good long while. He wasn't hoping to have to repeat the words he'd used to calm Beau down, not for anyone else, and certainly not for himself.


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: Here we go, another little chapter! **

**I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! **

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Beau didn't really care that it was the middle of the day and everyone else was working like fiends trying to turn days' worth of work into hours' worth while he sat in the bed with Libby and held Sam against him while he slept.

It was the first time in two days the boy had slept and the first time Libby had shown any signs of still being Libby. She was healing physically, her biggest trauma having been what Alice had called some kind of blunt trauma, and emotionally she seemed better, or at least she seemed to have come to terms with the fact that Jacob was gone and that there was nothing that any of them could have done to keep it from happening.

It was just one of those cruel facts of their lives now, much like the situations that had lost them their families…except this was a situation where Walkers weren't to blame for their loss.

Beau and Libby had done their best to try to explain to Sam that Jacob wasn't coming back, but death was something that was hard for adults to understand and it was even harder for children to understand it. They must have done a damn poor job of explaining it because the boy still searched his brother out tirelessly.

"I don't know what they wantin' me ta do, Beau," Libby said. "They thinkin' I'm s'posed ta be just as sad 'bout that baby as I am about Jacob an' it weren't even no real boy. I just keep pretendin' I'm sad an' they keep tellin' me they's gonna be more babies."

The first Beau had really heard of the baby in question came followed hot by the news that there wasn't going to be a baby. He didn't fully understand why there wasn't one, but he'd had no real attachment to it and neither had Libby, so the news that they weren't going to have something they'd never considered themselves destined to have didn't exactly stir up in either of them the feelings they were apparently supposed to have.

Clearly they were off to the worst start of anyone when it came to the parenting thing.

"You wantin' babies, Beau?" Libby asked.

Beau shrugged.

"They just fine with me," he responded. "We don't get us none, though, it'd be all the same ta me. You want 'em an' we'll get us some though. Reckon we could find 'em too if you just wanna do that."

Libby nodded at him.

"If it's all the same for you, I'd rather we do that," she said. "How long you s'ppose I gotta be sad about it?"

Beau shrugged again.

"Ask someone," he offered. "Maybe Sadie? She lost five real ones so she oughta know pretty good."

Libby nodded slightly to say that she agreed with his idea to ask someone. There was a lot that neither of them knew and the proper time for both of them to mourn this baby that they hadn't really thought much about was one of those things. Beau might ask Daryl too, since there was a chance that it was a different period of time for him and for Libby…her being the mother and all.

"We killed them guys good," Libby said quietly, picking at her bed cover with the fingers of her hand that wasn't bandaged up from some kind of injury that had left three of the fingers pretty good and broken. "You shoulda been there. I liked it. Liked it about as much as I've liked anything in a while. I got ahold of the ass killed Jake...I scalped him...cut his throat. Had to run him down, but it was worth it. I wanted it, Beau. I wanted ta kill him an' I wanted ta enjoy it..,an' I did."

Beau considered what she said. Maybe it would have sounded odd to someone else to say that she'd enjoyed it, but Beau knew that Libby had a certain lust for blood, in particular when it was blood that she thought someone owed her. As far as he knew, she'd never killed someone just for the hell of it, but she'd been responsible for doing a certain amount of killing when it had come to protecting Emma and the boys, especially once she'd realized that the people that she encountered along the way, her family gone, weren't necessarily going to be the nicest people she'd ever met in her life.

Beau knew that Libby didn't kill for the fun of it, not like the Mercedes girl, but she enjoyed it when she was getting the blood that she felt was owed to her. And Beau didn't begrudge her that.

"I'da done it too," Beau said. "I'm glad you liked it."

"Killin's wrong," Libby said regretfully.

"Bad killin's bad," Beau said, shaking his head at her. "Good killin's good."

"What's the difference?" Libby asked. "Killin's killin'…ends up people's dead either way."

Beau laughed to himself.

"You kill mine...I'ma kill you back," Beau said. "That's the difference."

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"We've been lucky so far," Michonne said to Daryl.

He had only recently gotten Hope down to sleep. It had taken longer than usual because Judith was keeping everyone awake. She wanted to sleep in the room with Tyreese and Carol, always made uneasy when Carol was injured, and she'd fought Tyreese tooth and nail about going to sleep. That had kept Hope up because she was concerned about Judith.

But finally both girls had gone down and then Daryl had come and claimed Zeb from Michonne and tucked him in, the boy completely unaware or uncaring about anything that was happening around him.

"Lucky," he mumbled. "I don't think lucky's the word I'd use for all the people we buried along the way…an' how damn many times you been shot now? I don't think that's lucky."

"I think it's pretty lucky," Michonne said. "How many times have I been shot? And I haven't died. That's luck. Zeb, Hope, Isaac…we've had three babies delivered to our community and not one of them have been stillborn. Libby's miscarriage is the first one that we've had…or at least the first that we've known about."

"We wouldn't know about 'em if there were more?" Daryl asked.

He stripped out of his clothes and washed off with some of the water that Rachel had brought for him to bathe in. It was cold now, but he didn't care. He'd sweated enough during the day putting all of his energy into getting fences up that he welcomed the chill of the air and water.

And they'd done pretty well. With Dick's suggestions they'd managed to get at least three times as much work done as they'd thought they might and they were ready to send another small team out to get more of the iron that they needed to continue the work…something they'd thought wouldn't need to happen for a good while longer.

"Well," Michonne offered, groaning a little as she changed her position, "sometimes women miscarry early enough that they hardly have any idea they were pregnant at all. It happens."

Daryl grunted and air dried himself, relishing the cool feeling of the air and the chillbumps it raised on his body. Then he made his way around and eased into the bed, leaving the light lit to keep them from talking in the dark since it was clear that Michonne wasn't done with their chat.

"Libby wouldn'ta lost that baby if she hadn't been out there fighting," Daryl offered. "We kept you and Carol both under watch when you were pregnant. We should have done the same thing for Libby. Every one of them knew better than to let her go running after those men."

"From what I understand," Michonne said, "they didn't have a choice. I think that Libby was leading the charge. They didn't tell her to go with them, they went after her. They went as much to protect Libby as they did to get revenge on that group."

"Beau asked me something strange," Daryl offered, rolling over and rubbing his hands over the sheets, enjoying the way they felt when his body was so tired from work that was far more difficult and wearing than they were used to even with the things that they'd become accustomed to doing on a regular basis.

"What?" Michonne asked.

"Asked me how long he had to be sad about the baby," Daryl said.

He glanced at Michonne. The deep line between her eyebrows showed that she thought the question was as odd as he'd thought it was when Beau had first presented it to him.

"He said that he and Libby were just trying to be sad about it as long as they had to be sad about it," Daryl said. "He said that Rachel and that Melodye woman was telling them that it was OK that they were sad and that they would have more kids and that they wanted to know how long they were supposed to be sad."

Michonne looked perplexed for a moment longer, sucking in her bottom lip in contemplation, and then she rolled her head to face Daryl and chuckled softly.

"So they're not upset about it is what this boils down to," Michonne said.

Daryl shrugged.

"That's what it seems to me," Daryl said.

"Well what'd you tell him?" Michonne asked.

"I told him he doesn't have to be sad about it any amount of time, and neither does she," Daryl offered. "I told him they was the best people to judge how long they were feeling sad about something."

Michonne nodded her head.

"Well, that sounds reasonable enough. Everyone mourns in their own way. You said it's clear that they're both mourning Jacob," Michonne said.

Daryl nodded.

"Yeah, that's evident enough," Daryl said. "Beau took a couple of breaks from working and you know how much he hates to do that. He spent part his time sitting with Libby and he spent another part of his time sitting out by where we buried the boy with Sam and having some kinda conversation with him. But…'Chonne…why do you reckon they aren't sad about their baby?"

Michonne considered his question a moment and then she reached a hand over, tracing her fingertip on his hand, the sensation tickling slightly.

"Some people are very concrete people," Michonne said. "Maybe they aren't sentimental enough to get attached to the baby when it's not a baby. Maybe they're the kind that have to see the baby for it to be real? Besides…I'm not sure how much time they really had to think about the baby. It would be like me telling you that I was pregnant, but you never knew about it, and now I'm not. Maybe it's kind of one of those things where they're not happy about it and they're not sad about it…it's just something that they're indifferent to."

Daryl thought about it and hummed his agreement with the possibility of that statement. He didn't know how he would feel in that situation since he'd never been there, but if there was a baby that wasn't going to be born and you'd never known about it in the first place, then it seemed reasonable that you might just have no feelings at all about it, sad or otherwise.

"They're gonna be alright, though," Daryl said, his words coming out crossed between a question and a statement.

"They're going to be just fine," Michonne responded, stopping her tracing and looping her hand in his with a strong squeeze. "They're made of tough stuff. Both of them are hard as nails when they have to be. They'll come through this just fine. You can take my word on that."

Daryl leaned up on his elbow.

"What about you, 'Chonne?" He asked. "It makes for a long day not to see you out there while we're working. How long do you think it'll be before you're up and moving again? Did the doctor say anything?"

Michonne nodded gently.

"She said that the wound isn't bad and it's already showing good signs of healing," Michonne said. "I don't know about working on those iron fences any time soon. I imagine I'm going to miss out on that completely, but she said that I could be up by the end of the week and resuming some light activity by the end of two probably. I imagine that means that I'm going to be spending some time working on the crops."

"Carol too? Tyreese is too damn antsy for my taste when she's hurt," Daryl asked with a snort.

Michonne smiled and nodded.

"She won't be working fences either," Michonne said. "But she's already getting antsy about getting up and out of there. Alice said she'll probably try to have her up within a day or so. She'll be back on light work before the week is out."

"Good," Daryl commented. "Then she can take care of you and I don't have to worry."

"You just get those fences up," Michonne said. "Then I don't have to worry. None of us do."

"They're going up, 'Chonne," Daryl assured her. "They're going up faster than we thought they would. And I hate to wish rain away when I know we're going to hope for it later, but I'm hoping that the rain holds out on us until those fences are up and the concrete's dry. We get Carol out there where Tyreese is motivated to keep driving people like he's good at doing and I expect we'll have them up within a week and a half. We'll have them up all the way around before Alice turns you loose to plant potatoes with the kids."

Michonne laughed at his teasing.

"Good," she responded. "That's what I want to hear. You know I did this on purpose, right? Just to get out of that fence work. It sounds terrible so I just made a quick decision when I saw that bullet coming."

Daryl chuckled.

"Jumped right in front of it, huh?" He asked.

She nodded and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're quite the woman," he said. "In that small amount of time you had, you decided to jump in front of that bullet and lined it up so it wouldn't do no more damage than layin' you up to be waited on until after the fences were up. You really are quite the woman."

Michonne laughed and made a face when the laughter was too much on her wound, the pain cutting the laughter short but not entirely erasing her smile.

She kissed at him.

"I am quite the woman," she responded quietly. "Don't you forget that either."

He smiled and moved to kiss her lips, making it so that she didn't have to move at all to bring them together.

"Don't you worry," he said. "I ain't gonna forget it, 'Chonne. Not never."


End file.
